Facts

conditions

Road & Bridge Conditions

Bridges

  • Thirty-one percent of New Hampshire’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

NH's Red Listed Bridges

50 States Bridge Inventory by Better Roads

The Federal Highway Administration, in consultation with the states, has assigned a sufficiency rating SR to each bridge (20 feet or more) inventoried. Formula SR rating factors are as outlined in the current Recording and Coding Guide for Structures Inventory and Appraisal SI&A of the Nations Bridges.

Below are the Bridge ratings for all 50 states by year. This data has been analyzed in order to inform you of where New Hampshire stands compared to the rest of the nation. If you would like to review the national bridge inventory, it is listed below by year and you may also visit the Better Roads Magazine website at www.betterroads.com.

Roads

Roughly half of our state-maintained roads are in sub-standard condition which is problematic.

  • Thirty-two percent of New Hampshire’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

According to the state, minor pavement maintenance before the road's 15th year will generally restore the pavement condition for about five years. However, if treatment is delayed for another three years it will cost four to five times more than the minor treatment.

  • Roughly 16 years ago, in 1991, the state experienced an increase in funding for resurfacing work, which allowed, for a time, more extensive treatments. However, since then, increases in costs of materials and changing priorities have forced management schedules to drop off. As of this writing, it is expected that the current plan (2006) will address approximately 330 miles of pavement, as compared to roughly 600-700 miles in 1993.
  • A road-condition study, conducted by the state in 2004, examined 3,422 miles of the 4,814 miles of New Hampshire’s state-maintained roads. The study revealed that 1770 miles of road were in need of “some work," while 1226 miles required “major work."
  • Looking to the future, the expected conditions of New Hampshire’s various roads vary widely, based on such conditions as the type and depth of a given road's base material, the most recent construction performed on it, traffic count—especially heavy trucks, and drainage. The state owns substantial "legacy" mileage, that is, roads that evolved from horse-and-buggy days. In such instances it is quite common to have major sub grade issues that keep reappearing, such as frost heaves and culvert dips. On average, any resurfacing or other maintenance of such roads will show improvement for only a short period—perhaps five years—before it reverts back to fair/poor condition. Conversely, newer roads are/were designed to include proper base materials to support the pavement.