I think this data is so interesting. When you find some data, you should always look for the data descriptions. From page 38, we have the ratings of bridge conditions (for Deck, Superstructure, and Substructure), for every bridge in the US, for every year back to 1991. Lots of other data on each bridge (e.g. county FIPS code of the bridge).
Warm up: make a file with bridge ID, year, fips codes, condition ratings, and a few other variables that interest you. Make your code reproducible. Make a plot. Things to do first: (i) look at a few lines of the raw data, (ii) look at the data description. Work independently, in small groups. (Share ideas and functions, but not code)
Project idea: zoom into a subset of “interesting” bridges (as you define it). Track how those bridges have changed over time. Make an interactive visualization that helps you tell a story. This project is definitely not required. It is just to help give a slightly more concrete example to the question “what do you expect in a project?”.