DALLAS - Oregon needs to increase its funding for bridge projects by almost $2 billion over the next 10 years just to keep the aging structures in their current conditions, the Oregon Department of Transportation said in a new report.
The state currently spends $60 million per year on bridge maintenance and replacement projects, but should be spending at least $240 million per year for the next 20 years to keep its inventory of 2,727 highway bridges in good condition, according to the report, which was released Sept. 17.
"Funding for the state bridge program is below the level needed to maintain current conditions," the report said. "Today's declining revenues, combined with dedicating bridge funding to repay bond debt, exacerbate an already unsustainably low funding level."
The state could lose $94 billion of economic production and 100,000 jobs if the bridge system is not adequately maintained, said Matthew Garrett, director of the Oregon DOT.
Replacing every state highway bridge on a 100-year cycle would require 72 new bridges a year but only three are built on average, he said.
"At the current rate of replacement, about 0.1% per year, state highway bridges will have to last more than 900 years on average," the report said.
Bridges need major maintenance work every 30 to 50 years, but the Oregon DOT can now only do major maintenance on a bridge every 100 years, it said.
Over the next 20 years, hundreds of state bridges will deteriorate to the point that they will have to be restricted to truck traffic, Garrett said. Detours increase transportation costs for Oregon businesses, making them less competitive and cost Oregonians their jobs.
"Healthy bridges are critical to Oregon's economy and our lifestyle," said Garrett. "We must be willing to make the necessary strategic investments."
More than half of Oregon's highway bridges are 50 to 65 years old, said Bruce Johnson, the state's chief bridge engineer.
"If these bridges were people, we'd be throwing retirement parties for them," said Johnson. "Instead, we're asking them to carry more traffic at higher speeds and heavier weights."
Oregon's state bridges are in relatively good shape at this time because of two transportation programs over the past dozen years that devoted funding to bridge projects, Garrett said.
The Oregon Transportation Investment Act of 2003 provided $1.3 billion to repair 122 bridges and replace 149 of them, which together total about 10% of the state's total bridge inventory. The program was completed in 2014.
A transportation program adopted by the Oregon Legislature in 2009 raised the state gasoline tax by six cents to 30 cents per gallon and increased vehicle registration fees. The Jobs and Transportation Act also authorized $840 million of highway user revenue bonds to fund 37 specific projects. The Oregon DOT said it will issue the remaining $430 million of the bonds in fiscal 2016.
The Oregon DOT's $1.5 billion of outstanding highway user revenue bonds are rated triple-A by Standard & Poor's, Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service, and AA-plus by Fitch.
Gov. Kate Brown last week revived a transportation funding panel to look into long-term revenue solutions following the release of the bridge report. The funding panel was created by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2014 but ceased operations after Kitzhaber resigned in February.
A transportation proposal for more funding supported by Brown earlier this year failed to gain approval in the final days of the 2015 legislative session. The measure would have raised the state gasoline tax by four cents over two years to support $400 million of bonds for specific highway projects and generate an additional $200 million per year for state and local roads.
