Dive Brief:
- The Federal Highway Administration made $5.4 billion available for roadway bridge construction, repair or maintenance, the agency announced June 2.
- Nearly $4.9 billion in funding will be available from the Bridge Investment Program for projects with total eligible costs greater than $100 million. A further $500 million will be available to eligible states under the Competitive Highway Bridge Program.
- The Department of Transportation stripped out climate change, environmental justice and equity requirements from grant documents first published during the Biden administration.
Dive Insight:
The American Society of Civil Engineers rated the condition of roadway bridges in the U.S. with a “C” grade in its 2025 Infrastructure Report Card, the same as the prior 2021 report card. Of the more than 623,000 bridges in the U.S., 49.1% are in fair condition and 6.8% are in poor condition, according to the report card.
Although the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $40 billion in funding for bridges, ASCE estimates $373 billion will be needed over the next 10 years to bring these structures to a state of good repair.
In its 2025 report, ASCE states that more than 22,000 bridges are susceptible to damage from extreme weather events. The report card recommends states give priority to their most critical bridges — such as those that see high daily traffic, are located on essential freight corridors or serve as evacuation routes.
Under the Biden administration, applications to these programs required an equity assessment and workforce practices inclusive of women, people of color and those with disabilities or prior criminal convictions. Applicants were asked to describe how the project would use disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned or women-owned businesses.
“The previous administration handcuffed critical infrastructure funding requirements to woke DEI and Green New Scam initiatives that diverted resources from the Department’s core mission,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
With the change of administrations, the DOT reviewed these grant programs, which had already opened to applications. States, cities and other eligible government entities that previously submitted applications for the Bridge Investment Program will need to amend them. Previous submissions to the Competitive Highway Bridge Program will not be reviewed, according to the DOT. Applicants will need to reapply.
Applications for the Bridge Investment Program must be received by August 1. The deadline for the Competitive Highway Bridge Program is August 4.
