Eligibility Criteria for

Highway Bridge Program (HBP) Funds

Based on each state's annual National Bridge Inventory (NBI) data submittal, FHWA determines which bridges meet the program’s criteria and are therefore eligible for HBP funds.

Download the most current list of eligible bridges:

• 2009 HBP Selection List Indiana (MS Excel, 1.38 MB)
• HTML Format

To be eligible for HBP funds, a bridge must meet all of the following four (4) criteria:

1. (1) Bridge must be on the NBI database.  Bridges that meet the following criteria are on the NBI database:

2. 1. longer than 20 feet (item 49*) AND
   2. highway bridge that carries a public road

3. (2) To be eligible for rehabilitation, bridge must have a Sufficiency Rating of 80 or less; To be eligible for replacement, bridge must have a Sufficiency Rating of less than 50.

4. (3) Bridge must be classified as either structurally deficient OR functionally obsolete.

5. 1. To be classified as structurally deficient, a bridge must have:
      1. Rating of 4* or less for:
         1. deck (item 58*) OR
         2. superstructure (item 59*) OR
         3. substructure (item 60*) OR
         4. culvert (item 62*) OR
      2. Rating of 2* or less for:
         1. structural evaluation (item 67*) OR
         2. waterway adequacy (item 71*)
   2. To be classified as functionally obsolete, a bridge must have:
      1. Rating of 3* or less for:
         1. deck geometry (item 68*) OR
         2. underclearance (item 69*) OR
         3. approach roadway alignment (item 72*) OR
      2. Rating of 3* for:
         1. structural evaluation (item 67*) OR
         2. waterway adequacy (item 71*)

6. (4) Bridge cannot have been rehabbed/reconstructed (item 106*) or new/replaced (item 27*) within the past 10 years, regardless of the source of funding. In addition to checking items 27 and 106, FHWA also checks its fiscal records to determine if any federal ‑aid funds were used to rehab/replace a bridge during the past 10 years.

*Ratings and item numbers are in accordance with the Recording and Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nation’s Bridges, Report Number FHWA‑PD-96-001, commonly referred to as the Coding Guide.