State Bridge Profile Massachusetts 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 5,141 bridges in the state, 459 bridges, or 9% 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 2,224 bridges, or 43% 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 $2.83 billion over the past five
years, 51 percent of highway and bridge contract awards, compared to a national average of 29
percent.
 Since 2004, 297 new bridges have been constructed in the state and 190 bridges have
undergone major reconstruction.
 The state estimates that it would cost approximately $12.3 billion to fix a total of 4,667 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 90 52,801 2,823,376 5 7,464 152,034
Other principal arterial 66 58,910 949,819 4 15,164 83,938
Minor arterial 124 52,472 665,155 9 3,217 57,658
Major collector 213 59,907 577,817 20 5,847 42,622
Minor collector 122 25,676 178,625 17 3,780 11,236
Local 440 64,333 226,705 52 5,621 23,499
Urban Bridges
Interstate 897 1,366,768 55,219,197 44 140,376 2,870,076
Other freeway 454 478,913 20,106,814 45 67,194 2,076,859
Principal arterial 682 770,057 17,011,060 91 150,929 2,516,164
Minor arterial 963 614,512 14,792,659 94 75,645 1,398,974
Collector 525 281,505 3,362,798 42 29,109 250,865
Rural 565 202,078 2,081,358 36 14,442 115,549
Total 5,141 4,027,932 117,995,383 459 518,787 9,599,474
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
Massachusetts

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 447 $2,271.6 4,677,340 347,071
Widening & rehabilitation 1,577 $1,957.4 31,651,980 865,908
Rehabilitation 2,330 $7,850.7 60,414,610 2,155,092
Deck rehabilitation/replacement 29 $88.7 1,248,015 47,846
Other work 284 $145.7 9,871,055 251,289
Top 10 Most Traveled Structurally Deficient Bridges in the State:
County
Year
Built
Daily
Crossings
Type of Bridge Location
Middlesex 1950 172,000
Urban
freeway/expressway
I-95/SR 128 over Railroad and MBTA/BMRR
Middlesex 1961 160,000 Urban Interstate I-95/SR 128 over the Charles River
Middlesex 1962 154,500 Urban minor arterial Grove Street over I-95/SR 128
Norfolk 1978 138,500
Urban
freeway/expressway
SR 3 NB over Highway Ramp C (Q Adams)
Norfolk 1978 138,200
Urban
freeway/expressway
SR 3 SB over Highway Ramp C (Q Adams)
Essex 1958 135,400 Urban Interstate I-93 NB over the Water Shawsheen River
Essex 1958 134,600 Urban Interstate I-93 SB over the Water Shawsheen River
Middlesex 1965 125,700 Urban Interstate I-90 over the CSX Railroad and MBTA
Suffolk 1964 125,000 Urban Interstate I-90 EB over a highway and Brooks Street
Suffolk 1964 125,000 Urban Interstate I-90 WB over a highway and Brooks Street
Sources: All data is from the 2014 National Bridge Inventory, released by the Federal Highway Administration in January 2015.
Note that specific conditions on bridge may have changed as a result of recent work. Cost estimates of bridge work provided as
part of the data and have been adjusted to 2014$ 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.