More than 100 bridges in Chester County have deteriorated so badly that they have been categorized as being in poor condition — the lowest assessment category — on last year’s National Bridge Inventory published by the Federal Highway Administration, write Kevin Crowe and Doug Caruso for USA Today. 

Overall, the report found 45,000 bridges nationwide to be in poor condition, with 3,353 of them in Pennsylvania. 

Chester County has 109 bridges in poor condition, which is 16 percent of the county’s 682 bridges. This is significantly higher than the seven percent average nationwide.

The oldest bridge on the poor condition list is Old Schuylkill Road over Pigeon Creek, built in 1804. The most recently built bridge in this category is West Avondale Road over the West Branch of White Clay Creek, constructed in 2012. 

Other bridges that are due for repairs include Downingtown Pike over Valley Creek in West Chester, Lincoln Highway over Buck Run near Coatesville, and Art School Road over Pickering Creek near Chester Springs. 

Help is likely on the way, thanks to $40 billion allocated to bridge repair and replacement as a part of the infrastructure spending approved by Congress in early November. 

Read more about Chester County’s bridge infrastructure in USA Today.