Minnesota Ranks 24th In Deficient Bridges

POSTED: 4:25 pm CDT August 3, 2007

UPDATED: 8:59 pm CDT August 3, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS -- When the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge collapsed Wednesday in Minneapolis, it triggered a wave of concern about bridges around the country.

The media and the public learned that more than 73,000 bridges around the nation are listed as structurally deficient, the same federal rating given to the fallen span.

According to a state-by-state breakdown of deficient bridges released by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Minnesota has 1,135 structurally deficient bridges across the state. Click here for an interactive map showing the number of structurally deficient bridges in different states.

While Minnesota is the unfortunate home of this tragedy, many other states have thousands of bridges labeled structurally deficient.

Oklahoma has the most deficient bridges in the United States, with 6,299 documented. Minnesota ranks 24th. For the complete list, click here.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MDOT) released the Federal Highway Administration Deficient Bridge List For Minnesota, which gives the location, rating and most recent inspection date of all deficient bridges. It also denotes if the bridges are open.

State highway officials have tried to assure people that the roads they drive are not in imminent danger, though others admitted serious concerns.

Although the U.S. Department of Transportation designation means that a bridge is in relatively poor condition, or has insufficient load-carrying capacity. Officials said bridges within that designation require maintenance and eventual rehabilitation or replacement. Structurally deficient doesn't necessarily mean that a bridge is ready to fall.

"That means there may be a component, it might be something as simple as a bridge rail might be knocked out and need to be repaired," said Tennessee Chief Engineer Paul Degges.

Governors and officials across the country are analyzing bridge safety as a result of Wednesday's structural failure.

In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley said it was extremely unlikely a collapse like the one in Minneapolis could happen there, saying the state has one of the more aggressive bridge safety inspections in the country.

In Minnesota, bridge inspections are mandatory once every three years according to MDOT. The Interstate 35W bridge was last inspected in 2006.

Many states are reviewing their inspection records as a result of Wednesday's catastrophe.

In Massachusetts, which has 32 bridges with a similar design to the Minneapolis bridge, Gov. Deval Patrick worried about hidden problems.

"It does make me anxious about the legacy of neglect that we are inheriting in this administration," Patrick said.

The governor has asked state transportation officials to review bridge inspection reports.

Other officials took the chance to talk about changes they want to make to existing structures.

New Hampshire's top priority is the Sarah Long Bridge, which connects New Hampshire and Maine. The bridge was built in 1921.

"Because of the unique construction and the age of the bridge, there's significant deterioration," said Mark Richardson of the state Bureau of Bridge Design. "It'll get a complete upgrade."

While that may be an option in New Hampshire, other states can't get the work done.

In Nebraska, bridge engineer Lyman Freemon said that he has ordered nearly a dozen bridges shut down. There isn't enough money to rebuild them.

"The funding is not adequate. We are taking measures now to preserve bridges longer to make them last longer, and it's not necessarily what we'd like to do, but it's what we have to do," Freemon said.

Nebraska has 2,413 structurally deficient bridges, and is the 10th highest state in the country when ranked. The full ranking of all states (including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico) is as follows:

List Of States Ordered By Number of Structurally Deficient Bridges