Some of Connecticut’s bridges are slowly falling apart, according to a study released Thursday morning that found 308 bridges in the state are structurally deficient.
TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C. that is sponsored by insurance companies, equipment manufacturers and businesses involved in highway construction conducted the study over several months and said 308 of the state’s 4,254 bridges are structurally deficient and need to be repaired or replaced.
The report also found that close to 60 percent of all the bridges in the state are 50 years old or older.
Transportation officials said the problem is coming to a head because of lack of funds and the age of the bridges.
“The engineers recognize the bridges can stay open. It is a signal of how critical those bridges are to the daily lives of people here in Connecticut and if those bridges had to be closed it would have a significant impact,” Rocky Moretti, the director of research and policy at TRIP, said.
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TRIP said the data for the report came from the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
NBC Connecticut Investigates looked into this issue in April and learned repairs for many of the bridges were nixed due to lack of funds in the state’s transportation fund.
