Bad Bridges Stoke Safety Fears as Infrastructure Talks Flounder

Ed Evans, a Democrat in West Virginia’s House of Delegates, says drivers in the state’s rural southern counties regularly pass over bridges that “would scare you to death.”

He describes structures with rebar sticking out, and massive holes in the cement where bridges are held together with metal guard rails. “They are absolutely, unbelievably dangerous,” Evans said.

The federal government considers about 14% of West Virginia’s highway bridges to be in poor condition, making it the second-worst state by that measure, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis.

The plight of the nation’s decrepit bridges recently made headlines when a crack ...