The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that more than $5 billion in grant awards will be used to repair or replace nationally significant large bridges across the United States. 

The money is being delivered via Large Bridge Project awards through the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Investment Program, which was established by the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program has set out to invest $40 billion over four years towards the reinforcement of the country’s bridges.

The grants will support the reconstruction, repair, and restoration of 13 bridges, which are viewed as being critical economic drivers, in 16 states. The projects will also address important safety issues, making the bridges more resilient to extreme weather conditions.

The grants were available to bridges with total eligible project costs over $100 million, with minimum grant awards being $50 million and a maximum award of 50 percent of the total project cost.

The largest grant award was given to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which is receiving $1.4 billion for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project. The project will see the replacement of two aging vertical lift bridges situated above the Columbia River with one that is modern, resilient, and multimodal.