FHWA Announces $729 Million to Repair Roads and Bridges Damaged by Catastrophic Events

On January 23rd, 2024 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced announced it is providing $729.4 million to fund repair needs following natural disasters, extreme weather, or catastrophic events, such as hurricanes, flooding and mudslides. These events will receive federal reimbursement funding under the FHWA’s Emergency Relief (ER) program as the result of major disaster declarations.

“As the climate crisis accelerates, more Americans are feeling the consequences in the form of extreme weather that devastates communities and destroys vital infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These funds will help restore critical transportation connections across the country as communities continue to repair and rebuild infrastructure damaged by extreme weather.”

FHWA’s Emergency Relief (ER) Program

FHWA’s Emergency Relief Program supports addressing climate change by providing funding to help states perform repairs following major natural disasters and extreme weather events.

The program includes funding for, but not limited to:

• Continued repairs from the 2022 flooding in and around Yellowstone Park
• 2022 Hurricanes Ian, Fiona, and Nicole
• 2023 flooding and mudslides in Vermont
• Other disasters across the country.

The funding will be used to reconstruct highways and bridges and protect the travelling public from further damages and allow for resiliency improvements as damages are repaired.

“Climate change is devastating communities across the U.S., in every state. Our transportation system was not designed to handle the climate impacts we are seeing in the 21st Century,” said FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt. “Since January 2022, FHWA has distributed over $1.3 billion in Emergency Relief dollars to help states make repairs because of climate-related events. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing new programs and funding opportunities to help our transportation system be more resilient to climate change and get people and goods where they need to go safely.”

A listing of 2024 Emergency Relief Program allocations with funding information for each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico can be found ER – Federal-aid Programs – Federal-aid Programs and Special Funding.

Focusing on Resilient Infrastructure

Congress pass­ed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness.

According to the White House, the legislation is the largest investment in the resilience of physical and natural systems in American history. The legislation will make our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change and cyber-attacks, with an investment of over $50 billion to protect against droughts, heat, floods and wildfires, in addition to a major investment in weatherization.

The law represents the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system – providing $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico over five years and $825 million for Tribal transportation facilities.

A Biden administration official said, “This money is needed to address the 43,000 bridges across our country that are in poor condition.” The official added that the program is expected to upgrade as many as 15,000 bridges nationwide.

Additional Resiliency Related Blog Posts:

• Investing in a Resilient Infrastructure With Steel (read now)
• New Resiliency Video Compares Corrugated Steel Pipe to Other Materials (read now)