America’s Aging Bridges: A Case for Smarter Reinforcement
What the 2025 Bridge Report Card reveals—and how we can build better for the next century.
The 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure on Bridges, recently released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), paints a sobering picture of the nation’s structural backbone:
- Over 220,000 bridges need repair or replacement
- 45% of U.S. bridges are more than 50 years old
- Corrosion and maintenance-related degradation continue to accelerate across the U.S. and bridge network
The infrastructure is aging—and for much of it, the materials selected decades ago are no longer holding up.
As public agencies and departments of transportation (DOTs) respond to increased federal infrastructure funding and new design mandates, there’s a critical opportunity (and responsibility) to rethink how we reinforce.
4 Takeaways From the 2025 Bridge Report Card
We read through the entire ASCE Report – here’s what you need to know:
1. America’s Bridges Are Aging Fast
The ASCE Report states that “approximately 45% of bridges have exceeded their planned design lives of 50 years.”
Many are structurally sound—for now—but time is catching up, and maintenance needs are compounding.
How Mateenbar® Helps – We offer a long-term reinforcement solution: GFRP (Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer) rebar that resists environmental degradation and is engineered for a 100-year design life.
2. Corrosion Is the #1 Culprit
About a third of the nation’s bridge inventory (221,791 spans) needs repair work or replacement, according to the ASCE Report.
Rebar corrosion is a major reason why.
Steel reinforcement, the primary reinforcing material used on bridges, deteriorates from moisture, deicing salts, and chloride exposure—especially in marine and cold-weather regions. This leads to cracking, spalling, and costly repairs.
How Mateenbar® Helps – Our fiberglass rebar (GFRP) is 100% corrosion-free. It eliminates the root cause of many bridge failures and dramatically reduces long-term maintenance demands.
3. We Need Smarter, Longer-Lasting Materials
According to the ASCE Report, one of the recommendations to improve the state of America’s bridges is to “fund research into innovative technologies, materials, and construction techniques to extend and preserve the life of bridges.”
Innovative design strategies, materials (like Mateenbar’s® GFRP rebar), and technologies are increasingly being embraced by engineers to build stronger, more secure bridges.
How Mateenbar® Helps – Mateenbar® GFRP rebar is supported by ASTM, ACI, and AASHTO specifications. It’s fully BABA compliant, manufactured in the USA, and already in use across dozens of U.S. states and several global markets.
4. Limited Resources and Competing Priorities
Even with increased infrastructure funding, many agencies face limited budgets, short timelines, and logistical challenges.
The ASCE Report cited the collapse of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge as a cautionary tale of what can happen when there are lapses in maintenance and oversight by multiple agencies, which is what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited as the reason for the bridge’s collapse.
These realities often result in reactive maintenance strategies instead of long-term planning.
How Mateenbar® Helps – Because GFRP eliminates corrosion and reduces ongoing maintenance needs, it allows asset owners to build once and allocate time, money, and resources more efficiently across their entire network. It’s a smarter investment in performance—and in operational capacity.
The Mindset Toward Concrete Reinforcement Is Shifting
At Mateenbar®, we’ve seen firsthand how the industry mindset toward concrete reinforcement is beginning to shift.
Engineers, architects, and contractors across the U.S.—and around the world—are increasingly embracing non-corrosive, code-compliant reinforcement for smarter bridge design.
Mateenbar® GFRP has been specified in bridge projects across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and beyond, and it’s built to meet today’s environmental and performance challenges head-on.
Here are examples of two award-winning U.S. bridge projects that incorporated GFRP as the primary reinforcement material:
Harkers Island Bridge, North Carolina
- The longest bridge in the world built entirely without steel reinforcement
- Mateenbar® fiberglass rebar was used to eliminate corrosion risk in a chloride-heavy, coastal environment
- 2025 PCI Design Award winner
Photo courtesy of Dylan Ray via Coastal Review.
- Used Mateenbar® GFRP to support long-term performance and corrosion resistance
- Recognized by ACEC Ohio for engineering excellence
Photo courtesy of David Patch | The Blade.
Want to Learn More About Mateenbar’s® GFRP for Bridge Projects?®
The 2025 ASCE Bridge Report highlighted a problem that must be addressed before it compounds.
One final data point to drive the urgency of action, courtesy of the ASCE Report: “Between 2014 and 2023, about 4,927 bridges per year were replaced. At that rate, bridges built today will need to last 126 years.”
Although the 2025 Bridge Report Card showed improvement over last year, it’s clear from the data that continued investment is needed to strengthen America’s aging bridge system.
With over 30 years of experience in the industry, we’ve learned that maintaining the status quo on reinforcing materials will continue to result in bridges that are inadequate for long-term public safety.
We at Mateenbar® are determined to get in front of America’s growing infrastructure crisis with reinforcement solutions that have proven to double the lifespan of key transportation infrastructure while significantly decreasing maintenance costs.
To learn more about our structural GFRP rebar, ideal for large infrastructure projects like bridges, read through our Mateenbar60™ page.
