US DOT awards $400M for 119 bridges
- The Federal Highway Administration said on April 8 it will send $407.7 million to 12 states to repair or replace 119 rural bridges. - Iowa, Maine, South Dakota and West Virginia each won $65 million, with South Dakota’s Platte-Winner bridge replacements among the named projects. - The awards use the Competitive Highway Bridge Program, revived as the infrastructure law runs through September 2026. (highways.dot.gov)
The U.S. Department of Transportation said on April 8 it will send $407.7 million to 12 states to repair or replace 119 rural bridges. (highways.dot.gov) The money will flow through the Federal Highway Administration’s Competitive Highway Bridge Program, which targets rural areas with fewer than 115 people per square mile. (highways.dot.gov) The agency said Iowa, Maine, South Dakota and West Virginia will each receive $65 million. It identified Iowa’s Better Bridges Brighter Opportunity and Bridges to Prosperity, Maine’s Critical Connections and Interstate 95 Decks in Distress, South Dakota’s SD 44 Platte-Winner Bridge Replacements, and West Virginia’s West Kanawha County Bridge Bundle among the projects. (highways.dot.gov) The West Virginia bundle includes the Dunbar Toll Bridge and the Kanawha Turnpike Interstate 64 overpass. The South Dakota work would link communities across the Missouri River. (highways.dot.gov) The program is built around “bridge bundling,” which groups several small bridge jobs into one federal award. Federal Highway Administration officials said that structure is meant to cut time and lower costs for rural states managing many small spans. (highways.dot.gov) This round lands in the final year of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which the Federal Highway Administration says provides the basis for its programs through September 30, 2026. The same law provides about $350 billion for federal highway programs over five years, with bridge funding split between formula money and competitive grants. (highways.dot.gov 1) (highways.dot.gov 2) The department reopened the Competitive Highway Bridge Program in June 2025 with up to $500 million available for rural bridge repairs and replacements. That notice also said the administration had removed prior climate, environmental justice and workforce-related application requirements. (highways.dot.gov) The bridge push sits alongside a separate Bridge Investment Program for larger projects. That program, created by the 2021 infrastructure law, funds bridge replacement, rehabilitation, preservation and protection work nationwide. (transportation.gov) (highways.dot.gov) For rural counties waiting on aging spans, the April 8 awards turn one federal bridge notice into 119 specific projects that can now move toward construction. (highways.dot.gov)
