CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Right now, crews are repairing one of Cape Coral's many aging bridges. The city is using $200,000 of your money to maintain them, but officials say that's not enough.

There are 158 bridges in Cape Coral the city maintains 139 of them. But a lot of the bridges are aging at the same time many built 40 years ago.

The sound of construction fills the air on Hancock Bridge Parkway and NE 13th Avenue. Crews are preparing to replace the bridge joints which are wearing away, thanks to the elements, and the pressure of thousands of vehicles. 

Chris Camp is the city's maintenance division manager. He says, while the the roadways and bridges of Cape Coral are the city's largest asset. Its estimated to be 2 and a half and 3 billion dollars if they had to be recreated today with today's standards," he said.

He admits funds for these necessary projects are tight. This fiscal year, crews got $200,000 to maintain the bridges, and Camp says they use every penny. "We've been fortunate that we've never had to close a road or a bridge because it was unsafe," he said.

Robert Brennan drives over this bridge twice a day and says he was surprised to see the construction. "I've never noticed it needing repair," he said. But says he understands that the city has to work on a tight budget.  "I would image everyone has to budget, you know, and when money is short like all of us, we have to budget," he said.

The city also has a bridge maintenance crew who visits every bridge in a cycle checking for cracks and wear. 

The work on Hancock Bridge Parkway is expected to be done by the end of next week.