The 50 Worst-Rated Bridges in America (2025 Data)

The Federal Highway Administration tracks the condition of every public bridge in the United States through the National Bridge Inventory. Out of 624,191 bridges nationwide, 41,685 are currently classified as being in poor condition -- that is 6.7% of the entire inventory.

But not all poor-condition bridges are equal. Some carry thousands of vehicles per day. Others were built before the Great Depression. The sufficiency rating, a 0-to-100 score calculated by the FHWA, captures how well a bridge serves its intended purpose -- factoring in structural condition, whether it can handle modern traffic loads, and how essential it is to the surrounding road network. A sufficiency rating below 50 makes a bridge eligible for federal replacement funding. Below 80, it qualifies for rehabilitation.

Here are the 50 bridges with the lowest sufficiency ratings in the country, according to the most recent data.

A bridge appearing on this list does not mean it is about to collapse. Federal and state inspectors evaluate every public bridge at least once every two years, and bridges with known issues are inspected more frequently. When a bridge is rated as structurally deficient or receives a very low sufficiency score, it enters a priority queue for repair or replacement.

What a low sufficiency rating does indicate is that the bridge has significant limitations. It may have weight restrictions that force heavy trucks to detour. Its deck may be deteriorating. Its design may not meet current standards for lane width or load capacity. In many cases, these bridges were built 60, 70, or 80+ years ago and have simply outlived their intended service life.

The FHWA computes a bridge's sufficiency rating on a 0-100 scale using three weighted factors: structural adequacy and safety (55% of the score), serviceability and functional obsolescence (30%), and essentiality for public use (15%). A brand-new bridge meeting all modern standards would score close to 100. A bridge that is structurally compromised, too narrow for current traffic, and not on a critical route could score in the single digits.

The national average sufficiency rating is 63.6. The bridges on this list fall far below that threshold, representing the structures most in need of federal investment.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (2021) allocated $40 billion specifically for bridge repair and replacement over five years -- the single largest dedicated bridge investment in U.S. history. The Bridge Formula Program distributes funds to states based on the cost of replacing or rehabilitating their poor-condition bridges. States with the most deficient bridges on lists like this one receive proportionally more funding.

To explore bridge conditions in a specific state, visit any of our [state report cards](/reports). Each one breaks down bridge conditions by county, highlights the worst bridges in the state, and tracks how conditions have changed over time.