Study Says 20 Percent of SD Bridges Structurally Deficient

At least 20 percent of the bridges in South Dakota are structurally deficient and 21 percent in Iowa fit the category, among the top states in the nation.

This is from a new study of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

Of the 1,147 such bridges in South Dakota the most traveled is the West 12th Street Bridge over Ellis and Eastern Railroad in Minnehaha County. The bridge carries an average of 22,694 vehicles per day.

The study estimates that it would cost over $600 million to fix all the bridges that South Dakota officials have identified as needing repairs.

There are nearly 56,000 problem bridges across the country, and if you placed them end-to-end, they would stretch 1,276 miles long.

President Donald Trump has promised a massive effort to fix America’s infrastructure.