Bridges and overpasses have not benefited from a reversal of their ageing trend since the early 2000s as was the case for roads. From a low of 18.1 years in 1969, there has been a steady trend of increasing age in almost every year since then, originating mostly from low investments. In 2007, bridges reached the age of 31.0 years, the oldest among all provinces. From 2001 to 2007, the gross capital stock for bridges in Quebec declined 1.3% per year on average compared to an increase of 0.4% nationally. The only other provinces to record negative growth rates during this period were Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
As a result, this asset type accounted for only 6% of the public infrastructure assets in the province, the lowest rate among all provinces. As a percentage of estimated useful life, Quebec matched the national average in 1983 at 49%. However, by 2007, the Quebec rate was 72% compared with 57% nationally, a gap of 15 percentage points.