The 2025 Report Card for California’s Infrastructure published by the American Society of Civil Engineers on 3 December assigns the state’s bridges a C- grade, warning that nearly half require maintenance to prevent further deterioration. According to the study, California has more than 25,000 bridges, many exposed to hazards such as earthquakes, wildfires, floods and rising sea levels. While only 6% are classified as poor, almost 50% are rated fair – a significant shift from 2019, when nearly two-thirds were considered good.
Ownership trends have also changed. Nearly 30% of poor-condition bridges are state-owned and maintained, while 70% are locally owned, compared with a roughly 50/50 split in 2019. This reflects sustained investment in state-owned structures over the past five years, contrasted with declining conditions among locally managed bridges due to funding shortfalls. The document reports that some local agency bridges have been closed to traffic because of disrepair.
More than 65% of California’s bridges exceed their 50-year design life, requiring major rehabilitation or replacement. Caltrans has completed seismic vulnerability screening, and retrofits where needed, on all 13,200 bridges in the state highway system, underscoring progress on seismic resilience. However, long-term funding uncertainty, particularly for local agencies, continues to hinder modernisation.
The report calls for sustained investment, clearer resilience goals and wider adoption of technologies such as real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance to address growing vulnerability to combined hazards such as storms followed by fires or earthquakes.
The full report is available online (link opens in new tab).
