IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3999 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 25, 2008 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the 
safety of Federal-aid highway bridges, to strengthen 
bridge inspection standards and processes, to increase 
investment in the reconstruction of structurally deficient 
bridges on the National Highway System, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Highway 
Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. HIGHWAY BRIDGE PROGRAM. 
(a) BRIDGES ON FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.— 
(1) RISK-BASED PRIORITIZATION FOR REPLACE-
MENT
AND
REHABILITATION
OF
DEFICIENT 
BRIDGES.—Section 144 of title 23, United States 
Code, is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) BRIDGES ON FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.—The 
Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall— 
‘‘(1) inventory all bridges on Federal-aid high-
ways that are bridges over waterways, other topo-
graphical barriers, other highways, and railroads; 
‘‘(2) identify each bridge inventoried under 
paragraph (1) that is structurally deficient or func-
tionally obsolete; 
‘‘(3) assign a risk-based priority for replace-
ment or rehabilitation of each such bridge after con-
sideration of safety, serviceability, and essentiality 
for public use and public safety, including the poten-
tial impacts to emergency evacuation routes and to 
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regional and national freight and passenger mobility 
if the serviceability of the bridge is restricted or di-
minished; and 
‘‘(4) determine the cost of replacing each such 
bridge with a comparable facility or of rehabilitating 
such bridge. 
‘‘(c) BRIDGES ON OTHER PUBLIC ROADS.— 
‘‘(1) INVENTORY OF BRIDGES.—The Secretary, 
in consultation with the States, shall— 
‘‘(A) inventory all those highway bridges 
on public roads, other than those on any Fed-
eral-aid highway, which are bridges over water-
ways, other topographical barriers, other high-
ways, and railroads; 
‘‘(B) identify each bridge inventoried under 
subparagraph (A) that is structurally deficient 
or functionally obsolete; 
‘‘(C) assign a risk-based priority for re-
placement or rehabilitation of each such bridge 
after consideration of safety, serviceability, and 
essentiality for public use and public safety, in-
cluding the potential impacts to emergency 
evacuation routes and to regional and national 
freight and passenger mobility if the service-
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ability of the bridge is restricted or diminished; 
and 
‘‘(D) determine the cost of replacing each 
such bridge with a comparable facility or of re-
habilitating such bridge. 
‘‘(2) INVENTORY
OF
BRIDGES
FOR
HISTORIC 
SIGNIFICANCE.—The Secretary may, at the request 
of a State, inventory bridges, on and off Federal-aid 
highways, for historic significance. 
‘‘(3) INVENTORY OF INDIAN RESERVATION AND 
PARK BRIDGES.—As part of the activities carried out 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Interior, shall— 
‘‘(A) inventory all those highway bridges 
on Indian reservation roads and park roads 
which are bridges over waterways, other topo-
graphical barriers, other highways, and rail-
roads; 
‘‘(B) identify each bridge inventoried under 
subparagraph (A) that is structurally deficient 
or functionally obsolete; 
‘‘(C) assign a risk-based priority for re-
placement or rehabilitation of each such bridge 
after consideration of safety, serviceability, and 
essentiality for public use and public safety, in-
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cluding the potential impacts to emergency 
evacuation routes and to regional and national 
freight and passenger mobility if the service-
ability of the bridge is restricted or diminished; 
and 
‘‘(D) determine the cost of replacing each 
such bridge with a comparable facility or of re-
habilitating such bridge.’’. 
(2) PROCESS FOR ASSIGNING RISK-BASED PRI-
ORITIES.— 
(A) DEADLINE
FOR
ESTABLISHMENT.— 
After modifying national bridge inspection 
standards in accordance with the amendments 
made by section 3 and not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary, in consultation with the States, 
shall establish a process for assigning risk- 
based priorities under sections 144(b)(3), 
144(c)(1)(C), and 144(c)(3)(C) of title 23, 
United States Code, as amended by paragraph 
(1) of this subsection. 
(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
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the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate a report containing a description of the 
process for assigning risk-based priorities estab-
lished under subparagraph (A). 
(C) INDEPENDENT REVIEW.— 
(i) 
PARTICIPATION
OF
NATIONAL 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—Not later than 
18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall enter into ap-
propriate arrangements with the National 
Academy of Sciences to permit the Acad-
emy to conduct an independent review of 
the process for assigning risk-based prior-
ities established under subparagraph (A). 
(ii) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Academy shall submit a re-
port on the results of the review to the 
Secretary, the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works of the Sen-
ate. 
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(iii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this subparagraph 
$2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. Such 
sums shall remain available until expended. 
(b) APPORTIONMENT.—Section 144(e) of such title 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In this 
subsection, the term ‘deficient bridge’ means a bridge that 
is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.’’. 
(c) PARTICIPATION.—Section 144(d) of such title is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
STATE
PARTICIPA-
TION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—As a condition for 
providing assistance to a State under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall require the State to 
take the following actions: 
‘‘(i) INSPECTIONS.—Not later than 24 
months after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, and at least once every 24 
months thereafter (except as otherwise 
provided by section 151(d)), the State shall 
inspect all highway bridges described in 
subsections (b) and (c) that are located in 
the State in accordance with the standards 
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established under section 151 and provide 
updated information on such bridges to the 
Secretary for inclusion in the national 
bridge inventory. 
‘‘(ii) CALCULATION
OF
LOAD
RAT-
INGS.—The State shall— 
‘‘(I) not later than 24 months 
after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, calculate the load rating 
for all highway bridges described in 
subsections (b) and (c) that are lo-
cated in the State; 
‘‘(II) at least once every 24 
months thereafter, reevaluate and, as 
appropriate, recalculate the load rat-
ing for each such bridge; and 
‘‘(III) ensure that the safe load- 
carrying capacities for such bridges 
are properly posted. 
‘‘(iii) 
PERFORMANCE
PLAN.—The 
State shall develop, not later than 24 
months after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, update annually, and imple-
ment a 5-year performance plan for— 
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‘‘(II) granting the exception will 
increase the overall safety of the 
State’s bridge inventory. 
‘‘(ii) HISTORIC BRIDGE DEFINED.—In 
this subparagraph, the term ‘historic 
bridge’ means any bridge that is listed on 
the National Register of Historic Places.’’. 
(d) INFORMATION AND REPORTS.—Section 144(h) of 
such title is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(h) INFORMATION AND REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) UPDATES
OF
INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary shall annually revise, as necessary, the infor-
mation required under subsections (b) and (c). 
‘‘(2) REPORTS
TO
CONGRESS.—Concurrently 
with the President’s annual budget submission to 
Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Environment and Pub-
lic Works of the Senate a report containing— 
‘‘(A) a description of projects and activities 
approved under this section; 
‘‘(B) the information updated under para-
graph (1), including a description of the pri-
ority assigned, on a national basis and by State, 
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for the replacement or rehabilitation of each 
structurally deficient or functionally obsolete 
bridge on a Federal-aid highway; 
‘‘(C) a description of any project or activ-
ity carried out by a State under this section in 
the preceding fiscal year that is inconsistent 
with the priorities assigned by the Secretary 
under 
subsection 
(b)(3), 
(c)(1)(C), 
and 
(c)(3)(C); and 
‘‘(D) such recommendations as the Sec-
retary may have for improvements of the pro-
gram authorized by this section.’’. 
(e) TRANSFERABILITY OF FUNDING.—Section 144 of 
such title is amended by inserting after subsection (r) the 
following: 
‘‘(s) TRANSFERABILITY
OF
FUNDING.—Notwith-
standing section 126 or any other provision of law, a State 
may transfer funds apportioned to the State under this 
section for a fiscal year to another apportionment of funds 
to the State under this title only if the State demonstrates 
to the satisfaction of the Secretary that there are not any 
bridges on the National Highway System located in the 
State that are eligible for replacement.’’. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 144 of such title is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(t) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 
definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) FUNCTIONALLY
OBSOLETE.—The term 
‘functionally obsolete’ as used with respect to a 
bridge means a bridge that no longer meets current 
design standards relating to geometrics, including 
roadway width, shoulder width, and approach align-
ment, for the traffic demands on the bridge. 
‘‘(2) STRUCTURALLY
DEFICIENT.—The term 
‘structurally deficient’ as used with respect to a 
bridge means a bridge that has— 
‘‘(A) significant load-carrying elements 
that are in poor or worse condition due to dete-
rioration or damage, or both; 
‘‘(B) a load capacity that is significantly 
below current truckloads and that requires re-
placement; or 
‘‘(C) a waterway opening causing frequent 
flooding of the bridge deck and approaches re-
sulting in significant traffic interruptions. 
‘‘(3) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘rehabilita-
tion’ means major work necessary to restore the 
structural integrity of a bridge and work necessary 
to correct a major safety defect. 
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‘‘(4) REPLACEMENT.—The term ‘replacement’ 
as used with respect to a structurally deficient or 
functionally obsolete bridge means a new facility 
constructed in the same general traffic corridor that 
meets the geometric, construction, and structural 
standards, in effect at the time of such construction, 
required for the types and volume of projected traf-
fic of the facility over its design life.’’. 
(g) NATIONAL BRIDGE INVENTORY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall take necessary actions to make information 
contained in the national bridge inventory estab-
lished under section 144 of title 23, United States 
Code, more readily available to the public, including 
actions to make the information easier to under-
stand. 
(2) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 
Such sums shall remain available until expended. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL BRIDGE INSPECTION PROGRAM. 
(a) NATIONAL BRIDGE INSPECTION STANDARDS.— 
Section 151(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The standards estab-
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lished under this subsection shall be designed to ensure 
uniformity among the States in the conduct of such in-
spections and evaluations.’’. 
(b) MINIMUM
REQUIREMENTS
OF
INSPECTION 
STANDARDS.—Section 151(b) of title 23, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (5) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) establish procedures for conducting annual 
compliance reviews of State inspections, quality con-
trol and quality assurance procedures, load ratings, 
and weight limit postings of structurally deficient 
highway bridges; 
‘‘(7) establish procedures for States to follow in 
reporting to the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) critical findings relating to structural 
or 
safety-related 
deficiencies 
of 
highway 
bridges; and 
‘‘(B) monitoring activities and corrective 
actions taken in response to such a finding; and 
‘‘(8) provide for testing with a state-of-the-art 
technology that detects growth activity of fatigue 
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