Suffolk will receive millions in state money to replace or make major repairs to 10 bridges, staff announced at Wednesday’s City Council work session.

The Virginia Department of Transportation’s “State of Good Repair” program has recently been expanded to cover bridges. It has previously helped fund some large asphalt paving projects in Suffolk, said L.J. Hansen, assistant public works director.

“What it’s designed toward is making sure we’re able to maintain the infrastructure we have in place,” Hansen said. “Maintenance is a very important part of what we do.”

In October, the city was notified that 17 bridges were eligible for funding as part of the new program. Two of those, on Arthur Drive, were already being replaced. The city applied for funding for the other 15.

The city recently was notified it will receive $11.6 million towards reconstruction or replacement for 10 of those bridges.

Most of the bridges are small spans that go over small creeks or canals and parts of swampland in rural areas. The city has a total of 149 bridges and culverts, the vast majority of which are only a few yards long.

“They’re not your Godwin Bridge or your Kings Highway Bridge that would run $90 million,” Public Works Director Eric Nielsen said during Wednesday’s work session.

A bridge is considered “structurally deficient” if it has been restricted to light vehicles, requires rehabilitation or has been closed to traffic. All of the bridges in the program have this designation.

The term “structurally deficient” is somewhat misleading in that it does not necessarily mean the bridge is unsafe.

“It means the bridge is approaching a critical point in its life where it either needs some significant maintenance or it needs to be replaced,” Hansen said. “Oftentimes, it requires we put weight restrictions on them. That usually just means the bridge has a component or multiple components we’re keeping an eye on. It means we maintain it and inspect it more frequently.”

The city must put in $2.6 million of its own money to get the state money. The bridges have to be under design within two years, but five of them are already under design, Nielsen said.

Some of the bridges will be completely replaced. Some will be replaced with box culverts, and some will have replacements only of some major components.

The following are the affected bridges:

• Carolina Road at Cypress Swamp
• East Washington Street at Jericho Canal
• Nansemond Parkway at Beamons Mill Pond
• Simons Drive at Cohoon Creek
• Mineral Springs Road at Jones Swamp
• Lake Cohoon Road at CSX crossing
• Longstreet Lane at Somerton Creek
• Southwestern Boulevard at Chapel Swamp
• Badger Road at Washington Ditch
• Turlington Road at Kilby Creek Spillway

City Council members praised Public Works staff for bringing in the money.

“That’s a big savings to this city,” Councilman Roger Fawcett said.