S. 3338: National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008

110th Congress · introduced 2008-07-25 · Transportation and Public Works · Latest: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 110-1263.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2008-07-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 110-1263. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008

Plain summary

National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008 - Revises the national highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program to direct the Secretary of Transportation to develop a risk-based priority process under which states shall assign priority for the replacement or rehabilitation of all federal-aid highways bridges, public roads bridges, and Indian reservation and park bridges found to be structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Requires states, as a condition of receiving federal assistance, to develop, and update annually, an approved five-year performance plan for highway bridge inspection and rehabilitation and replacement. Directs the Secretary to: (1) revise annually, as necessary, the data contained in the national bridge inventory; (2) make it more accessible to the public and easier to understand; (3) establish procedures for states to report critical findings of bridge deficiencies and subsequent monitoring and corrective actions; (4) expand the national training program for bridge inspectors to ensure that all bridge inspectors are appropriately trained and certified; (5) revise federal regulations concerning the qualification of state highway bridge inspection personnel to require program managers and team leaders to be licensed professional engineers; (6) establish a two-year pilot grant program to evaluate the effectiveness, accuracy, and reliability of the use of advanced condition assessment inspection processes and technologies to monitor and evaluate the structural health of highway bridges meeting certain criteria; and (7) establish a national highway tunnel inspection program. Revises national bridge inspection standards to provide for annual inspections of structurally deficient highway bridges, including biennial inspections of those bridges that have not been determined to be structurally deficient. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Secretary on: (1) the factors that contribute to construction delays of bridge rehabilitation; and (2) any recommendations for simplifying and expediting the construction of bridges that are to be rehabilitated. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on the effectiveness of the bridge rating system of the Federal Highway Administration, including the use of the terms "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" to describe the condition of highway bridges in the United States. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the cost benefits of using carbon fiber composite materials in bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects instead of traditional construction materials; and (2) the risks posed by floods to bridges on Federal-aid highways, bridges on other public roads, bridges on Indian reservations, and park bridges located in a 500-year floodplain. Expresses the sense of Congress that states should prepare bridge corrosion mitigation and prevention plans, containing specified features, for bridge construction, replacement, or rehabilitation projects.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

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If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] reported raising $2.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-110s3338.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/110/s>

Record fed-us-cong110-s3338 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110