More than 50 bridges in Delaware 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 National Bridge Inventory found 45,000 bridges nationwide to be in poor conditions, with 3,353 of them in Pennsylvania.

Delaware County has 55 bridges listed in poor condition, which is 14.4 percent of Delaware County’s 383 bridges. This amount s significantly higher than the seven percent average nationwide.

The oldest bridge on the poor condition list is Darby Paoli Road over Little Darby Creek, built in 1840. The most recently built bridge in this category is W Colonial Drive over Spring Run, constructed in 1985.

Other bridges that are due for repairs include Providence Road over Darby Creek, Bethel Road over Branch Marcus Hook Creek, and Glen Mills Road over Chester Creek.

However, 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 bridge infrastructure in Delaware County in USA Today.