WASHINGTON -- State officials say you shouldn't worry about a new report showing two Garden State Parkway bridges ranked among America's 50 most heavily used spans in great need of repair.

Work on those spans -- the parkway's Mill River and Third River bridges -- has been completed and they won't be showing up on any bad list any time soon.

But hundreds of other Jersey bridges remain structurally deficient, according to Federal Highway Administration data analyzed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, a Washington-based industry group.

And New Jersey leaders are concerned the federal government won't help out with repairs, as President Donald Trump's call for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure spending program appears to rely more on funding from state and local governments and private sources.

"Thank God that President Eisenhower didn't ask the states of the nation to come up with all the money for a national highway system, or we'd still be not the economic powerhouse we are now," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J..

New Jersey ranked 22nd among the 50 states in the percentage of deficient bridges last year, the same spot as in 2016.

Of 6,737 bridges, 596, or 8.8 percent, were rated as needing repairs in 2017. A year earlier, 609 of 6,730 bridges, or 9 percent, were rated as deficient.

"New Jersey has continued its trend over several years of reducing the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state, even as more bridges become structurally deficient each year," state Transportation Department spokesman Stephen Schapiro said.

The Mill River and Third River bridges had ranked 1-2 on the last of the most heavily traveled deficient structures in New Jersey, and were 19th and 32nd worst nationally.

The work recently was completed, thanks to increased highway tolls that funded the construction.

The state's bridge backlog is being partially reduced through the New Jersey Turnpike's $7 billion capital plan, which was funded by a 2011 toll increase, and by the 23-cent increase in the state's gasoline tax, which beefed up the state Transportation Trust Fund.

Washington might help too, depending on what Trump envisioned when he called for $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investments in Tuesday's State of the Union address.

He has talked about using federal dollars to match spending by states, localities and private sources.

"I don't know how he thinks he's going to create $1.5 trillion in investments when you already have states that are cash-strapped," said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

"There is not enough private-sector investment in this country unless you want to turn roads and bridges into toll roads."

Trump hampered the ability of state and local governments to raise the money needed when he gutted the federal deduction for state and local taxes in the Republican tax law, and new tolls won't be welcome in a state whose motorists already pay to travel Interstate 95 (the New Jersey Turnpike), which is free in Florida and the Carolinas.

A transportation spending bill authored by the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., began repaying New Jersey and other states that built toll roads later incorporated into the interstate highway system, but congressional Republicans let that provision expire.

In addition, the tax bill allows companies to bring overseas profits back to the U.S. at a lower rate to help fund the tax cuts, which studies show primarily benefit wealthy Americans. Some lawmakers had hoped to use that money for construction projects instead.

"Here was an opportunity to do some groundbreaking work that would have put a large number of people to work, would have a had a huge ripple effect in the economy, and is a legacy-type project," Menendez said.

Besides the Garden State Parkway spans, other bridges on the top 10 list also are being addressed, Schapiro said. The decks of the three Route 17 spans will rehabilitated in one construction project. Plans also are underway to rehabilitate the bridge decks for spans along Route 4 and Interstate 80, he said.

Repairs to the Route 495 bridge began last fall and the Route 46 bridge work will come up for bid in 2019.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@commutinglarry.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.