On August 29, 2019, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced the recipients of $225 million in Competitive Highway Bridge Program (CHBP) grant funding. Awarded to 20 projects in 18 states, the grants will fund a variety of bridge improvements including replacement and rehabilitation.
“This $225 million in federal funding will enable 18 states to make vital upgrades to select bridges in rural areas,” said Chao.
By law, the funds were restricted to states with population densities of less than 100 people per square-mile based on Census data. Twenty-five states met program qualifications.
The funds must be used for highway bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects on public roads that leverage the efficiencies associated with “bundling” at least two highway bridge projects into a single contract.
Bundling offers cost and time savings, which are beneficial to reducing the transportation project backlog. It allows the opportunity to address many projects facing similar needs using innovative replacement and rehabilitation strategies in a cost-effective manner.
The 20 projects selected significantly demonstrate these benefits and support the Department’s priorities.
“The projects funded under the program will serve as models for similar bridge improvement projects throughout the nation,” said Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. Nason. “They are examples of how to achieve time and cost savings through innovation.”
Congress funded the CHBP grant program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, from the U.S. Treasury’s General Fund. State Departments of Transportation in the 25 eligible states were invited to apply under the program.
2019 Awardees:
- Alabama – I-85 Exit 60, Norfolk Southern Railroad, and Long Street Bridge Replacement Project
- Alaska – South Seward Highway Bridge Project
- Arizona – US 191 Bridge Bundling Project
- Arkansas – Osceola Area Economic Development Project
- Colorado – Concrete Box Culvert and Corrugated Metal Pipe Culvert Program
- Idaho – Local Highway Technical Assistance Council
- Iowa – Bridges for Iowa’s Future
- Kansas – Gray, Clark, and Meade County Bridge Bundle
- Maine – Franklin County Bridges Project
- Maine – I-295 Bridges Project
- Minnesota – District 1/St. Louis County Bridge Bundling Project
- Mississippi – Bridge Replacements in Lincoln, Marion, Jefferson Davis, and Walthall Counties
- Mississippi – Bridge Replacements in Tallahatchie, Yalobusha, and Attala Counties
- Missouri – Fixing Access to Rural Missouri (FARM) Bridge Program
- Nebraska – Norfolk Northeast Bridges Project
- Nevada – I-515 Las Vegas Bridge Replacements
- North Dakota – Bridge Rural Replacement Program
- Oklahoma – Grant County Bridge Replacement Project
- Oregon – Douglas County Bridge Replacement Project
- South Dakota – West River Counties Bridge Replacement Project
Image (courtesy of Alabama DOT) is the proposed replacement of the Mobile River Bridge in Alabama.