If you look closely at the bridges in this country, you'll find a public safety crisis. A recent Scripps News investigation revealed thousands of bridges from coast to coast have been listed in "poor condition" for years. Many are in urgent need of repair or replacement. At least 46 million passengers are using these deteriorating structures every day.
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00:00 A Scripps News investigation found thousands of bridges not benefiting from a major push
00:05 to fix crumbling infrastructure.
00:07 Why not?
00:08 We're getting answers from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
00:12 If you look closely at bridges in this country, you'll find a public safety crisis.
00:18 A recent Scripps News investigation revealed thousands of bridges from coast to coast have
00:22 been listed in poor condition for years.
00:26 It doesn't look like it's in great shape.
00:28 It's not in great shape, no.
00:29 Many in urgent need of repair or replacement.
00:33 By our count, at least 46 million passengers are using these deteriorating structures every
00:39 day.
00:40 Welcome to DOT.
00:41 Patrick Turkstra.
00:42 Few in the U.S. government have more responsibility for the safety of these bridges than Secretary
00:46 of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
00:48 I want to ask about the findings of our Scripps News bridge investigation.
00:53 We found over 14,000 bridges around the country have been in poor condition for over a decade.
00:59 Does that surprise you?
01:00 Well, you know, this is something that we have been hearing about for years, even for
01:04 decades.
01:05 We kept seeing these reports about civil engineers giving America a not a very good grade.
01:10 You all have a lot of work to do.
01:12 14,000 bridges in poor condition.
01:14 What explains that huge number?
01:16 Well, you get what you pay for.
01:17 It's kind of like failing to fix a leaky roof because you think that'll save you money.
01:21 It might in the short term, but it's not the right answer for the long run.
01:25 Buttigieg says the Biden administration has made upgrading bridges a priority, injecting
01:30 billions of dollars in cash to get the job done.
01:34 He tells us the state of today's bridges can be blamed on years of inaction.
01:38 Year after year, Congress after Congress, administration after administration, we didn't
01:43 see the kind of major investment that was really needed.
01:46 The important thing is right now we are moving it in the right direction so that instead
01:49 of getting worse, it's getting better.
01:52 We found the Biden administration's efforts are helping to pay for bridge projects more
01:56 than 6400 so far.
01:59 But the list of bridges needing repairs has only been getting longer.
02:03 The number of structures considered to be in fair or poor condition has been growing
02:08 over the past decade, according to a Scripps News analysis of data from the Federal Highway
02:12 Administration.
02:15 Pittsburgh offered a horrifying example of what can happen when a bridge is left in a
02:20 state of disrepair for too long.
02:22 This bridge, known as Fern Hollow, collapsed just before the morning rush hour in January
02:28 2022, injuring 10 people.
02:33 The NTSB hasn't finished its investigation yet, but says years of unaddressed corrosion
02:39 on the supports was likely a factor.
02:42 A year and a half after that collapse, we were surprised to find so many other bridges
02:47 in Pittsburgh literally crumbling in our hands.
02:50 I'm barely even pulling and these pieces just come apart.
02:54 Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, an ally of President Biden, told us Washington needs to do more
02:59 to keep bridges usable and safe.
03:03 Funding is a major issue.
03:04 I'm so fortunate that President Biden focused on a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
03:10 But the reality is we need more.
03:11 Why can't a city like Pittsburgh get the money it needs to keep bridges in a state where
03:16 they are safe and able to stay open?
03:18 What we have right now is the largest investment in roads and bridges since the Eisenhower
03:22 administration.
03:23 And it's a level of funding that is, frankly, testing how much the American economy can
03:29 actually absorb, making sure we have the raw materials for this, making sure that we have
03:34 the workforce ready to do this.
03:36 Are you confident then that we will not see another bridge collapse like we saw in Pittsburgh?
03:41 We can't guarantee that a disaster will never happen.
03:44 But what we can do is make the investments to shore up the conditions of our infrastructure
03:50 and hold every entity that is responsible for inspecting those bridges and roads accountable
03:55 for their responsibilities.
03:57 Buttigieg says this country is just at the beginning of what he calls an infrastructure
04:01 decade.
04:02 Yet, a report from the Congressional Research Service we found says it could take 20 years
04:08 to eliminate the backlog of bad bridges, assuming Congress keeps up historically high funding
04:13 levels.
04:14 That's far from a sure thing.
04:16 The infrastructure bill squeaked into law last year with opposition from most Republicans
04:21 who said it was too costly.
04:23 At the scene of the Fern Hollow collapse, President Biden said of bridges, "We're going
04:27 to fix them all.
04:28 This is going to be a gigantic change."
04:29 How long do people need to wait?
04:31 Well, it took decades to get here, and so it's not going to be changed overnight.
04:36 But what we're finally doing and what we're able to do is change the trajectory.
04:40 The good news is we're underway on it now.
04:42 And yes, there's a long way to go.
04:44 Patrick Terpstra, Scripps News, Washington.