More than 100 bridges in Montgomery County have deteriorated so badly that they have been categorized as being in poor condition – the lowest assessment category – on last year’s National Bridge Inventory published by the Federal Highway Administration, write Kevin Crowe and Doug Caruso for USA Today.

Overall, the report found 45,000 bridges nationwide to be in poor conditions, with 3,353 of them in Pennsylvania.

Montgomery County has 119 bridges in poor condition, which is 15.3 percent of the county’s 778 bridges. This is significantly higher than the seven percent average nationwide.

The oldest bridge on the poor condition list is Trinity Lane over Gulph Mills Creek, built in 1789. The most recently built bridge in this category is Markley Street (NB) over Stony Creek, constructed in 1995.

Other bridges that are due for repairs include Germantown Pike over Branch Stony Creek, West King Street over Manatawny Creek in Pottstown, and Pleasant View Road over Sanatoga Creek in Sanatoga.

However, help is likely on the way thanks to the $40 billion allocated to bridge repair and replacement as a part of the infrastructure spending approved by Congress in early November.

Read more about bridge infrastructure in Montgomery County in USA Today.

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