State Bridge Profile Delaware 2014

1. © 2015 The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of
ARTBA.
Highlights from FHWA’s 2014 National Bridge Inventory Data:
 Of the 865 bridges in the state, 48 bridges, or 6% are classified as structurally deficient. This
means one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or
substructure, is considered to be in “poor” or worse condition.1
 There are 123 bridges, or 14% of all state bridges, classified as functionally obsolete. This means
the bridge does not meet design standards that are in line with current practice.
 State and local contract awards for bridge construction totaled $138.48 million over the past
five years, 20 percent of highway and bridge contract awards, compared to a national average of
29 percent.
 Since 2004, 64 new bridges have been constructed in the state and 24 bridges have undergone
major reconstruction.
 The state estimates that it would cost approximately $651.9 million to fix a total of 337 bridges
in the state.2
Bridge Inventory:
All Bridges Structurally deficient Bridges
Type of Bridge
Total
Number
Area (sq.
meters)
Daily
Crossings
Total
Number
Area (sq.
meters)
Daily
Crossings
Rural Bridges
Interstate 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other principal arterial 81 230,314 1,809,074 3 21,631 41,517
Minor arterial 21 11,490 189,466 1 159 12,395
Major collector 86 38,744 337,022 4 262 18,015
Minor collector 28 4,215 57,739 2 0 3,363
Local 195 22,602 137,889 18 69 14,187
Urban Bridges
Interstate 91 327,575 3,560,711 3 3,389 140,757
Other freeway 28 32,405 874,886 0 0 0
Principal arterial 120 170,042 2,818,326 7 27,641 194,497
Minor arterial 69 69,664 838,759 1 172 22,555
Collector 81 36,396 546,164 5 326 8,445
Rural 65 21,801 125,020 4 909 5,815
Total 865 965,247 11,295,056 48 54,557 461,546
1
According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a bridge is classified as structurally deficient if the condition rating for the deck,
superstructure, substructure or culvert and retaining walls is rated 4 or below or if the bridge receives an appraisal rating of 2 or less for
structural condition or waterway adequacy. During inspections, the condition of a variety of bridge elements are rated on a scale of 0 (failed
condition) to 9 (excellent condition). A rating of 4 is considered “poor” condition and the individual element displays signs of advanced section
loss, deterioration, spalling or scour.
2
This data is provided by bridge owners as part of the FHWA data and is required for any bridge eligible for the Highway Bridge Replacement
and Rehabilitation Program. However, for some states this amount is very low and likely not an accurate reflection of current costs.
State Bridge Profile
Delaware

2. © 2015 The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of
ARTBA.
Proposed bridge work:
Type of Work Number Cost (millions) Daily Crossings Area (sq. meters)
Bridge replacement 155 $288.2 2,206,044 116,685
Widening & rehabilitation 20 $12.2 208,919 17,339
Rehabilitation 137 $335.4 1,935,380 311,147
Deck rehabilitation/replacement 0 $0.0 0 0
Other work 25 $16.1 534,131 40,635
Top 10 Most Traveled Structurally Deficient Bridges in the State:
County
Year
Built
Daily
Crossings
Type of Bridge Location
New Castle 1978 68,304
Urban other
principal arterial
SR 141 over the Christina River, Amtrak and SR 4
New Castle 1960 47,350 Urban Interstate I-295 SB over Abandoned Prison Road
New Castle 1960 47,350 Urban Interstate I-295 SB over Norfolk Southern Railroad - abandoned
New Castle 1958 46,057 Urban Interstate I-295 NB over the area of old ramp 6117
New Castle 1955 34,091
Urban other
principal arterial
Capitol Trail/SR 2 over White Clay Creek
New Castle 1978 31,205
Urban other
principal arterial
SR 4 to SR 141 S over Ayres Street
Sussex 1916 29,085 Rural arterial US-113/Dupont Boulevard over the Iron Branch
New Castle 1958 28,557
Urban other
principal arterial
Dupont Highway/US-13 over Baylor Boulevard
New Castle 1965 22,555
Urban minor
arterial
Foulk Rd/SR 261 over South Branch Naamans Creek
New Castle 1963 21,307
Urban other
principal arterial
Basin Rd/SR 141 SB over I-95, I-295 and 6099
Sources: All data is from the 2014 National Bridge Inventory, released by the Federal Highway Administration in January 2015.
Note that specific conditions on bridge may have changed as a result of recent work. Cost estimates of bridge work provided as
part of the data and have been adjusted to 2014$ for inflation and estimated project costs. Contract awards data is for state
and local government awards and comes from McGraw Hill. Note that additional bridge investment may be a part of other
contract awards if a smaller bridge project is included with a highway project, and that would not be accounted for in the total
in this profile.