Kansas Plans to Spend $10M on Deficient Rural Bridges

The Kansas Department of Transportation says more than $10 million in state funds will be spent on 77 rural bridges listed as deficient.

The Wichita Eagle reports the bridges, rated deficient because they aren’t able to handle legal load limits, are in 75 counties. State funds will be used to fix or replace the passages.

According to the Transportation Department, some of the reasons why a bridge wouldn’t be able to handle legal loads is because of their outdated design or deterioration.

Transportation officials say of the nearly 25,000 bridges in Kansas, less than 10 percent, or 2,390, are considered structurally deficient. Not all were eligible for state funding.

To get funding, a bridge had to have a daily vehicle count of less than 100 and have a length between 20 and 50 feet.