2016 FactCheck: on Technology

Donald Trump: FactCheck: 24% of our bridges are in trouble, not 59%

On Aug. 25, Trump said, "Our bridges, 59% of our bridges are in trouble. Think--whoever heard of that? I mean, in trouble. Serious trouble." Whoever heard of that? Not the FHWA. The agency annually produces a report on the state of the nation's bridges. The FHWA's most recent report found 61,365 bridges were "structurally deficient" and 84,525 were "functionally obsolete" in 2014. That's a total of 24%

Functionally obsolete doesn't mean the bridge is unsafe: it may be the source of traffic jams or may not have a high enough clearance to allow an oversized vehicle.

We don't mean to minimize the number of bridges in need of attention, but the number is simply not as high as Trump says. Where did he get the figure 59%? We don't know. His campaign did not respond to our questions.