Interstate and Intergovernmental Factors Affecting the Conditions of Rural Bridges

Many of the nation's rural highway bridges are structurallydeficient, functionally inadequate, or both. Rural bridges areparticularly likely to be in poor condition in states wherethe federal government plays a small role in the highway program,where local governments play a large role in highway financing,and where the chief state transportation agency is a highwaydepartment rather than a department of transportation. The assignmentof responsibilities, then, appears to influence program performance.