The report asserts that 12%, or 69,000, bridges need attention or replacement nationwide. It states more federal funding help is "essential" for repairing bridges, Reuters reported.

"For bridges, lack of maintenance can lead to the sudden closure of a critical transportation link or, far worse, a collapse that results in lost lives and a significant decline in regional economic productivity," according to the report, "The Fix We're In For: The State of Our Bridges," which cited federal data and other sources.

Though the collapse of a 40-year-old bridge in Minneapolis nearly four years ago that killed 13 motorists raised concern about the condition of U.S. bridges, subsequent federal funding has not been enough to address the nationwide problem, the report said. The Minneapolis bridge collapse was blamed on design and quality control issues.

Federal spending for bridge repair has severely lagged estimates of needed funding. Federal spending increased by $650 million from 2006 through 2009, compared to the $22.8 billion that the Federal Highway Administration said it needed to fix deficiencies.

"The nation's bridges are aging and traffic demands are increasing, even as state and local revenues are shrinking," according to the report.

John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said Transportation for America's report documents the massive need for funding to preserve and replace bridges in every state -- a need AASHTO identified in its 2008 report "Bridging the Gap." The American Society of Civil Engineers has also documented the nation's need to invest more money in bridge upkeep. ASCE has determined the United States needs $17 billion annually to improve current bridge conditions but the country only spends $10.5 billion each year on bridges.

"We concur with Transportation for America's first recommendation that Congress needs to provide states with increased resources to repair and rebuild bridges," Horsley said. "However, we disagree with its second recommendation that additional restrictions need to be added and flexibility needs to be taken away as to how states put to work the federal funds they are provided."

Each year for the last six years, spending by state governments on bridges -- most of it by state transportation departments -- has more than doubled the funding assistance for bridges provided by the federal government, according to AASHTO.

For example, in 2008, data collected by AASHTO shows that federal bridge program apportionments were $4.225 billion while states spent an additional $4.714 billion of their own funds on bridges. (A table of bridge program spending from 1998 to 2008 is available at bit.ly/Bridges040111.)

"States have consistently given high priority to investment in bridge preservation," Horsley said. "States use the current flexibility in the federal program to shift dollars from one category to another to deliver highway and bridge work in the most cost-effective way possible. Transportation for America's recommendation of further restrictions is simplistic, unnecessary, and counterproductive. The current federal program already takes too long to get things done and is complex enough. We encourage Congress to simplify the program, not to add more red tape."

Transportation for America's 24-page bridge report is available at t4america.org/resources/bridges.