Drivers who suffer from gephyrophobia, the fear of driving across bridges, might not want to read the latest federal report on the condition of New Jersey’s bridges.
New Jersey has reduced the number of the bridges in the worst condition, continuing a 25-year trend, the data shows. However, the number of bridges considered in fair condition is growing.
An analysis of the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics database and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association annual bridge report showed the same trend across the nation.
The bridges in the reports range from massive structures over rivers to local overpasses and ramps.
New Jersey ranked 33rd in the nation with 392 deficient bridges, according to the annual bridges report. That is an improvement from 410 spans that were considered deficient last year.
“NJDOT’s investments in bridge projects has continued the trend of reducing the number of bridges in poor condition, which has steadily dropped since 2000,” said Steve Schapiro, a New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesperson. “We continue to make progress in reducing the number of bridges in poor condition.”
The report says the most heavily traveled New Jersey bridges that are structurally deficient are:
- a Route 495 east bridge that includes two ramps over Routes 3 east and a Route 1&9 ramp in North Bergen.
- an I-80 bridge over the Passaic River and McBride Avenue in Passaic.
- three 1931-era Route 17 bridges over two railroads and West Central Avenue in Rochelle Park.
- Three Route 4 bridges in Tenafly, including two over the Hackensack River and over Teaneck Road.
State officials said several of the bridges are scheduled for repairs or replacement.
New Jersey has 6,825 bridges, with 40% maintained by the state Department of Transportation. The rest are maintained by toll authorities, counties or towns.
A deficient bridge isn’t considered in danger of collapsing. But it either can’t carry the weight it was designed for, or it has deteriorated parts, federal officials said.
Some bridges are decades past what experts consider a useful service life of 50 to 70 years.
Some bridges, especially aging drawbridges, break down in a very visible way.
For two summers in a row, the Route 71 drawbridge between Belmar and Avon has malfunctioned and had to be left in the “open” position until it was repaired. Construction to replace the 93-year old bridge starts in 2028.
Over the last 25 years, New Jersey has reduced the number of bridges considered in poor condition, according to federal data.
In 2000, 33.8% of New Jersey bridges were ranked in good condition. Another 54.5% were in fair condition and 11.7% were in poor condition, according to the federal database.
By 2020, New Jersey bridges that ranked in good condition dipped to 23.6%, bridges in fair condition reached 69.2% and those rated poor declined to 7.1%.
This year, 21.5% of the state’s bridges were ranked in good condition, 72.6% were in fair condition and 5.9% were considered poor.
“There are 475 more bridges today than in 2000,” Schapiro said. “NJDOT prioritizes work on bridges that are most in need of repairs or replacement.”
The department’s preventative maintenance is focused on “improving bridges in poor condition or keeping bridges in fair condition from falling into poor condition,” he said.
The trend in New Jersey matches the rest of the nation.
Between 2024 and 2025, the ranks of good and poor bridges in the nation declined while the number of bridges in fair condition increased.
About 41.6% of the nation’s 624,193 bridges are ranked in good condition, 53.5% are fair and 4.9% are ranked in poor condition, the report said.
The average age of a bridge in New Jersey is 57 years and older bridges require more frequent maintenance, Schapiro said.
New Jersey has “some of the heaviest truck traffic in the nation,” winter weather and temperatures that wear down bridge decks, he said.
In fiscal year 2026, which started on July 1, $1.745 billion was allocated in the state Department of Transportation’s capital program for state and local bridge work. That’s in addition to $1.23 billion dollars in federal bridge formula funding, Schapiro said.
Contracts for 28 new bridge projects, ranging from major construction to maintenance work, are scheduled to be awarded in fiscal year 2026, Schapiro said.
In fiscal year 2025, which ended on June 30, the state awarded 35 bridge projects. In the last four years, a total of 99 bridge projects were awarded.
There are also 161 bridge projects in some stage of design, Schapiro said. That includes several of the New Jersey bridges that made the list of the most structurally deficient structures.
There is a project to replace the Route 3/Route 495 bridge over Route 1&9 in North Bergen that is in preliminary engineering. Final designs are expected in fiscal year 2027, which starts on July 1, 2026, Schapiro said.
Three other deficient bridges on I-80 are scheduled to be replaced as part of a larger $900 million, 10-year construction project to replace nine bridges.
The three Route 17 and Route 4 bridges that made the list of New Jersey’s most deficient also have replacements being designed, state officials said.
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