The number of French bridges is poorly known and one in ten is in poor condition, according to a Senate report unveiled by Europe 1 Thursday morning. Senators call for a "Marshall Plan" to fix it.

The French bridges are in a very disturbing state concludes a Senate report commissioned just after the tragedy of the Genoa viaduct last August. Some 43 people were killed in the collapse of this bridge. This report, which Europe 1 reveals Thursday morning, will be presented during the day.

>> Hervé Maurey, Senator of Eure and President of the mission of information on the safety of bridges, will be the guest of Nikos Aliagas at 7:45 am

Badly known and poorly maintained bridges

In France, there are between 200 ... and 250,000 bridges in France, impossible to be more precise because there is no exhaustive census. It is also learned in this report that almost all of these bridges are managed by local authorities and that about one in ten are in poor condition and pose security problems. "At least 25.000 bridges are in a bad structural state and pose problems of safety and availability for the users", alarms the mission of information

>> READ ALSO - INQUIRY - The difficult inventory of dilapidated bridges in France

The situation has particularly worsened over the last 10 years, according to the report's authors. It can be explained in particular because there are not enough investments, neither financial nor human. The surveillance policy leaves something to be desired while global warming is putting these bridges to the test. Among the reasons advanced: GPS. These guide traffic, especially heavy goods vehicles, on bridges that have not been designed for such traffic.

REPORTAGE - In Petite-Rosselle, the bridge shakes the inhabitants

Senators call for more ways

To alleviate this problem, senators advocate a real Marshall Plan with priority given to increasing the resources devoted to bridge maintenance. And this is calculated in billions of euros over the coming years. These investments would help maintain them throughout their lives. On the side of the Department of Transport, it says that we will look at this report but that there are already the first answers in the mobility law that has just been passed in Parliament.