The Federal Highway Administration recently issued two new notices of funding opportunity or NOFOs for $5.4 billion worth of grant funding aimed at helping states repair, replace, or build new bridges across the country.
[Above photo by WVDOT]
The first is comprised of $4.9 billion worth of grant funding through FHWA’s Bridge Investment Program alongside a separate NOFO for a further $500 million through the agency’s Competitive Highway Bridge Program to help repair or replace bridges in rural areas.
Established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA of 2021, the Bridge Investment Program provides grants on a competitive basis to improve overall bridge condition as well as the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of people and freight over said bridges.
Meanwhile, the Competitive Highway Bridge Program from recent appropriations legislation seeks to provide grants to states that have a population density of less than 115 individuals per square mile and less than 26 percent of total bridges classified as “in good condition” or greater than or equal to 5.2 percent of total bridges classified as “in poor condition.”
This is the latest bridge-related funding announced by FHWA.
In late May, the agency issued $1.5 billion to help states and U.S. territories accelerate repairs to roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure damaged by natural disasters – including more than $683 million specifically allocated to repair damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
That funding, funneled through the FHWA’s Emergency Relief or ER program, will help repair and reconstruct federal-aid highways and federally owned roads in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
