II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2063 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States to rehabilitate 

or replace certain bridges, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States 

to rehabilitate or replace certain bridges, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthen And For5 tify Existing Bridges Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Bridges 

6 Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO STATES TO REHABILITATE OR RE8 PLACE CERTAIN BRIDGES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘bridge’’ means a 

2 bridge on a public road, without regard to whether 

3 the bridge is on a Federal-aid highway. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

5 bridge’’ means a bridge that is— 

6 (A) structurally deficient; 

7 (B) functionally obsolete; or 

8 (C) fracture critical. 

9 (3) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY.—The term ‘‘Fed10 eral-aid highway’’ has the meaning given the term in 

11 section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code. 

12 (4) FRACTURE CRITICAL.—The term ‘‘fracture 

13 critical’’ means, with respect to a bridge, a bridge 

14 with a steel member in tension, or with a tension 

15 element, the failure of which would likely cause a 

16 portion of the bridge or the entire bridge to collapse. 

17 (5) FUNCTIONALLY OBSOLETE.—The term 

18 ‘‘functionally obsolete’’ means, with respect to a 

19 bridge, a bridge that, as determined by the Sec20 retary, no longer meets the most current design 

21 standards for the traffic demands on the bridge. 

22 (6) PUBLIC ROAD.—The term ‘‘public road’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

24 title 23, United States Code. 


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1 (7) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita2 tion’’ means, with respect to a bridge, the carrying 

3 out of major work necessary, as determined by the 

4 Secretary— 

5 (A) to restore the structural integrity of 

6 the bridge; or 

7 (B) to correct a major safety defect of the 

8 bridge. 

9 (8) REPLACEMENT.—The term ‘‘replacement’’ 

10 means, with respect to a bridge, the construction of 

11 a new facility that, as determined by the Secretary, 

12 is in the same general traffic corridor as the re13 placed bridge. 

14 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Transportation. 

16 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

17 (A) a State; and 

18 (B) the District of Columbia. 

19 (11) STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT.—The term 

20 ‘‘structurally deficient’’ means, with respect to a 

21 bridge, a bridge that, as determined by the Sec22 retary— 

23 (A) has significant load-carrying elements 

24 that are in poor or worse condition due to dete25 rioration, damage, or both; 


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1 (B) has a load capacity that is significantly 

2 below truckloads using the bridge and that re3 quires replacement; or 

4 (C) has a waterway opening causing fre5 quent flooding of the bridge deck and ap6 proaches resulting in significant traffic inter7 ruptions. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es10 tablish a program to assist States to rehabilitate or re11 place eligible bridges. 

12 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available to 

14 carry out the program established under subsection 

15 (b) for a fiscal year shall be apportioned to each 

16 State according to the ratio that— 

17 (A) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 

18 structurally deficient and functionally obsolete 

19 bridges in that State; bears to 

20 (B) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 

21 structurally deficient and functionally obsolete 

22 bridges in all States. 

23 (2) CALCULATION OF TOTAL COST.— 

24 (A) CATEGORIES OF BRIDGES.—The Sec25 retary shall place each structurally deficient or 


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1 functionally obsolete bridge into one of the fol2 lowing categories: 

3 (i) Federal-aid highway bridges eligi4 ble for rehabilitation. 

5 (ii) Federal-aid highway bridges eligi6 ble for replacement. 

7 (iii) Bridges not on Federal-aid high8 ways eligible for rehabilitation. 

9 (iv) Bridges not on Federal-aid high10 ways eligible for replacement. 

11 (B) CALCULATION.—For purposes of the 

12 calculation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

13 shall multiply the deck area of structurally defi14 cient and functionally obsolete bridges in each 

15 category described in subparagraph (A) by the 

16 respective unit price on a State-by-State basis, 

17 as determined by the Secretary, to determine 

18 the total cost to rehabilitate or replace bridges 

19 in each State. 

20 (C) DATA USED IN MAKING DETERMINA21 TIONS.—The Secretary shall make determina22 tions under this subsection based on the latest 

23 available data, which shall be updated not less 

24 than annually. 


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1 (D) USE OF EXISTING INVENTORIES.—To 

2 the extent practicable, the Secretary shall make 

3 determinations under this subsection using in4 ventories prepared under section 144 of title 

5 23, United States Code. 

6 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned to a State 

7 under the program established under subsection (b) 

8 shall— 

9 (1) be used by that State for the rehabilitation 

10 and replacement of eligible bridges; 

11 (2) except as otherwise specified in this section, 

12 be administered as if apportioned under chapter 1 of 

13 title 23, United States Code, except that the funds 

14 shall not be transferable; 

15 (3) be subject to the requirements described in 

16 section 1101(b) of MAP–21 (23 U.S.C. 101 note; 

17 126 Stat. 414) in the same manner as amounts 

18 made available for programs under divisions A and 

19 B of that Act; and 

20 (4) not be subject to any limitation on obliga21 tions for Federal-aid highways or highway safety 

22 construction programs set forth in any Act. 

23 (e) CONDITION AT PROJECT COMPLETION.—A bridge 

24 that is rehabilitated or replaced under the program estab25 lished under subsection (b) may not be structurally defiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:13 Mar 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2063.IS S2063

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1 cient, functionally obsolete, or fracture critical upon the 

2 completion of the rehabilitation or replacement. 

3 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

4 of a project carried out with funds apportioned to a State 

5 under the program established under subsection (b) shall 

6 be 100 percent. 

7 (g) REAPPORTIONMENT OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.— 

8 Any funds apportioned to a State under the program es9 tablished under subsection (b) and not obligated by that 

10 State at the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 

11 the fiscal year during which the funds were apportioned 

12 shall be withdrawn from that State and reapportioned by 

13 the Secretary to States that have not had funds withdrawn 

14 under this subsection in accordance with the formula spec15 ified in subsection (b). 

16 (h) NONSUBSTITUTION.—In carrying out the pro17 gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

18 ensure that funding made available to a State under the 

19 program supplements, and does not supplant— 

20 (1) other Federal funding made available for 

21 the rehabilitation or replacement of eligible bridges; 

22 and 

23 (2) the planned obligations of that State with 

24 respect to eligible bridges. 


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1 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter if 

3 States obligated funds apportioned under the program es4 tablished under subsection (b) during that year, the Sec5 retary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

6 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

8 Senate a report that describes the amounts obligated by 

9 each State for projects under the program. 

10 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

12 out this section $2,750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

13 2014 and 2015, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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