Bridge Resources Program

Bridges are a critical component of the highway system. However, according to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI), there are 6,686 bridges in the State of New Jersey and 8.9% (or 596 bridges) are structurally deficient while 25.6% (or 1714 bridges) are functionally obsolete (FHWA, 2016). New Jersey has one of the oldest bridge inventories in the nation, and as bridges age, they require increasingly frequent maintenance and repair (FHWA, 2016). New Jersey needs to continuously maintain its aging bridges as they exceed their original life- span of 50 years. MAP-21 requires that bridges on the National Highway System (NHS) meet a minimum performance level of 90% sufficiency. In New Jersey, 91.3% of NHS bridges are classified as structurally acceptable (i.e., 8.7% of NHS bridges are structurally deficient). However, there is a need to continuously control these percentages as the bridges grow older. In response, annual investments of $1 billion dollars are planned for bridge rehabilitation and replacement projects over the next 10 years ($10 billion dollars) to reduce the growth rate of the structural deterioration backlog and to maintain the federal performance level.

The objective of the BRP is to provide ongoing engineering evaluation and research support to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)’s Division of Bridge Engineering and Infrastructure Management in such a way to guide and strengthen the State’s direction and decision making in the activities of NJDOT needs. In particular, three main objectives are set forth. 1. Preserve the State’s Bridge and Structural Assets, 2. Optimize the overall condition of the State’s assets within available funding levels, and 3. Develop and support sustainable policies based on research products, guidelines and new technologies to prove funds are best spent, and identify opportunities for program improvement.