Over 25 percent of all the 590,750 bridges in the United States are rated
as "structurally deficient or functionally obsolete," according to the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Their latest periodic review
was the "2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure." In their state-
ment of condolences today, the ASCE stated that, "It will cost $9.4 billion
a year for 20 years to eliminate all bridge deficiencies. Long-term
underinvestment is compounded by the lack of a federal
transportation program."