Dozens of Northeast Florida bridges designated as ‘structurally deficient’ in new FDOT report

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Are the bridges you drive over safe?

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You might be surprised to find out there are dozens of bridges in Northeast Florida designated as ‘structurally deficient’.

That’s according to a brand-new report from the Florida Department of Transportation.

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It’s no surprise, when people hear a bridge is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete… it sounds scary.

But FDOT argues it’s all part of the agency’s mission to keep drivers safe.

According to the new FDOT report there are 221 functionally obsolete bridges across Northeast Florida’s nine counties. A total of 41 of them were identified as structurally deficient.

Read: FDOT issues traffic alert for planned construction at First Coast Expressway

That’s nearly 20 percent of the region’s 1,493 bridges.

For drivers like Kris Moore, the news makes her a little uneasy.

“It concerns me and it does worry me. I mean, because if you weren’t telling me I wouldn’t know right now,” said Moore.

Those 41 bridges in the worst shape are spread out among five counties. There are 19 in Duval, six in Clay, two in St. Johns, three in Nassau and six in Baker.

But FDOT PIO Hampton Ray said the designations don’t mean the bridges are about to collapse by any means.

“If it’s unsafe for a motorist to be on, they will have no problem shutting it down,” said Ray.

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Functionally obsolete means that the bridge design is outdated. They are scheduled for replacement or rehabilitation as budgets permit. Structurally deficient bridges are recommended for repair or scheduled for replacement.

Ray said the designation gets the bridge put on a maintenance list to get it back in tip-top shape.

“This is a part of our planning process,” said Ray.

Ray told Action News Jax at least two of the structurally deficient bridges are in the process of being fixed right now and should be done by the end of the year.

But for commuters like Moore, they’d like to see the list brought down to zero as soon as possible.

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“The sooner the better, but again, it would be nice if we knew about it,” said Moore.