After Baltimore Bridge Collapse, A Question: How Safe Are MN Bridges?

MINNESOTA — The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday is raising questions in Minnesota and elsewhere about the overall safety of bridges.

The tragedy reminds Minnesotans of the 2007 Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis that left 13 people dead and 145 injured.

A federal Transportation Department report last year broke down the condition of the 13,502 in Minnesota. Of the total number of bridges, 7,746 are in good condition, 5,174 are in fair condition and 582 are in poor condition.

Those bridges include 1,728 that are part of the National Highway System and are eligible for federal infrastructure money. Of the bridges in the federal highway system, 680 are in good condition, 997 are in fair condition and 51 are in poor condition.

Overall, more than 42,400 of the nation’s roughly 621,500 bridges are rated in poor condition. Of those, about 4,450 of nearly 147,000 bridges in the federal highway system are rated as poor.

Another report using federal data and released by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association found 1 in 3 bridges in the United States should be repaired or replaced.
Minnesota ranks 41 in structurally deficient bridges in that report. The 10 states with the most structurally deficient bridges are:

1. West Virginia, 20 percent
2. Iowa, 19 percent
3. South Dakota, 17 percent
4. Rhode Island, 15 percent
5. Maine, 15 percent
6. Pennsylvania, 13 percent
7. Puerto Rico, 13 percent
8. Louisiana, 12 percent
9. Michigan, 11 percent
10. North Dakota, 11 percent

Read Baltimore Patch’s complete coverage of the bridge collapse:

• Bridge Collapses After Cargo Ship Hits It
• ‘I Didn’t Think It Was Real’: Residents React
• Photos: A Search For Survivors After Bridge Collapse