The provisional £400m figure comes from a survey of highway managers in England and Wales - with a final total due by April which is expected to be significantly higher.
Airports and highways were public but funded out of user fees such as ticket fees and gas taxes; highway managers knew bridges to nowhere would not generate any fees, so they had no incentive to waste money on unnecessary projects.
Herefordshire Council's Highways Manager Clive Hall said it had identified 1,800 problems on its road network.
Worcestershire County Council highways manager Jon Fraser told the BBC the authority had already mended more than 800 potholes in the last fortnight.
Jon Fraser, Worcestershire County Council highways manager, said work would commence to clear a large pile of debris which has collected by the city's main bridge.
But the reality is that this may be a protracted operation". Brian Buckley, Durham County Council's strategic highways manager, said: "The Banks Group has lawful authority to start work on the site, which involves moving various utilities located under the verge and widening the road to form an entrance to the site.
On site at Pooley Bridge, following its collapse, Cumbria's highway network manager David Spence says the Desmond recovery is far more nimble than disaster responses he managed under the former highways contractor.
Christine Daleiden, the highway accounting manager in Fond du Lac County, Wis., said the county, which has used up almost all of its salt, was buying more from a supplier in Minnesota at a price 70percentt higher than the $39.29 per ton the county typically paid.
Lucinda Adam spoke to Keith Scott, the council's highway maintenance manager and Paul Watters from the Automobile Association.
Eddie Fellows, Highways Network Manager for Amey, said: "The feedback from everybody is that these lights have worked well.
