The amount of money to be spent on state-owned bridges in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties will almost double to a record $175 million next year.

"We're trying to catch up with a backlog that came about because bridges were not a high priority. They were victims of deferred maintenance," said Dan Cessna, executive for the state Department of Transportation's District 11, where 612 of the 1,769 state-owned bridges are still rated as structurally deficient.

He said that $91.9 million spent to replace five bridges, rehabilitate six bridges and do preservation work on 76 bridges this year, and the $175.2 million to be spent next year, are the result of priorities established in the 2007 transportation funding bill known as Act 44 and a $350 million bond issue approved this year.

Over the past several years, the number of weight-restricted bridges in PennDOT District 11 has gone down from 62 to 41, while the 1,000-square-feet of deteriorated bridge deck area -- the way engineers measure -- has decreased by 7 percent to 26 percent of all bridge deck area.

Mr. Cessna said PennDOT will be able to build upon the recent improvements in a variety of ways to keep bridges open for commuters and commerce.

The methods include extending deck life by overlaying them with waterproof materials; replacing expansion joints with water-tight seals; painting; repairing concrete and steel components including bridge bearings that allow for movement; fixing drainage systems; and using high-pressure washing to remove winter dirt and road salt.

One on the list of 66 bridges slated for attention next year has wallowed in the "design stage" for more than a decade. Because the deterioration continued, PennDOT was forced to close the short, two-lane Concord Church Road Bridge over Brush Creek earlier this month.

A new bridge expected to cost more than $3 million is to be put out for bids in several months.

Three other relatively small bridges are closed in Lawrence and Beaver counties, but none is closed in Allegheny County.

In Allegheny County, however, 19 bridges carry weight limits. The best known of the deteriorated, heavily traveled spans in recent years were the 62nd Street Bridge over the Allegheny River, recently rehabilitated at a cost of $6.6 million, and Boulevard of the Allies bridge over Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh, razed earlier this year. The new boulevard bridge is to be opened later this year.