Maine Bridges Rank Terribly In U.S. Infrastructure Survey
In an article from USA Today, a list of U.S. States shows how each state is ranked by who is falling apart the most.
The article is based off of information from 24/7 Wall Street who created "an index using the share of bridges, roads, and dams that are in a state of disrepair or potentially hazardous, to identify the states with the best and worst infrastructure." The goal is for your state to NOT be at the top of the list because those are the ones with the worst infrastructure and needing the most repair.
The information from the index comes straight from the Federal Highway Administration's report Highway Statistics 2016.
Unfortunately, Maine's bridges did not fair well compared to most of those of the rest of the United States. Ours ranked 10th worst in the nation, beating out North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Louisiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
Here's how that list looks:
Most Deficient Bridges Nationwide
10. Maine
9. Oklahoma
8. North Dakota
7. Louisiana
6. Nebraska
5. Pennsylvania
4. South Dakota
3. West Virginia
2. Iowa
1. Rhode Island
The rest of the news is that Maine's stats aren't anything to be proud off but at least we're not at the top of the least for other things.
Maine ranked 24th highest when taking into account all infrastructure needs, which isn't terrible. Rhode Island ranked the worst for overall infrastructure deficiencies. Florida ranked the best.
Here's how it all broke down, remember you DON'T want to rank high because that is most in need of infrastructure work:
- Roads in poor condition: 4.4% (22nd lowest)
- Deficient bridges: 13.3% (10th highest)
- Dams at high hazard risk: 11.6% (16th lowest)
- State highway spending per driver: $610 (15th highest)