LANSING – Though Minnesota and federal investigators are still trying to determine why a highway bridge in Minneapolis collapsed Wednesday, Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle said such a catastrophic collapse in Michigan is unlikely.

There are bridges in the state in need of repair, but none still in service have reached the point of collapse, he said in a statement Thursday.

And he said any bridges found to be dangerous during the biennial inspections are closed until they can be repaired or replaced.

He noted that the Mackinac Bridge and the international crossings are inspected annually, twice the federal requirement for such facilities.

“It is important to note that bridge collapses such as the one that happened in Minneapolis are extremely rare,” said Mr. Steudle. “We are confident we have safe bridges in Michigan and carefully manage them to ensure the safety of the motoring public. If we had concerns about any particular bridge, we would immediately take appropriate action.”

But he said department officials would be following the investigation into the Minneapolis bridge collapse, which killed a confirmed nine people thus far, to look both for areas where inspectors might need to pay closer attention and for any recommendations it might generate for improved bridge maintenance.

“If we have bridge components that are even remotely similar, we will take action to strengthen these bridges,” he said.

The Minneapolis bridge, which was a major connector to the city’s downtown, simply collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour on Wednesday. The 40-year bridge had been inspected as recently as a year ago.

However, the state has sent inspectors out to look at four bridges since the situation in Minneapolis. Those bridges are on US 23 over the Ocqueoc River near Cheboygan, on M-55 over the Pine River near Manistee, on M-26 over the Eagle River near the pedestrian bridge north of Houghton and on US-2 over the Cut River northwest of Mackinac Bridge in the Upper Peninsula.

Road construction officials could not comment on the safety of the state’s bridges, but said the bridge collapse again raises concerns about the shortfall in transportation funding in the state.

Nancy Brown with the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association noted that of the 200 structures on the state’s critical bridge list, one in six is not addressed in the current five-year plan.

And she noted a recent report that ranked the state third worst in the nation for the condition of its highway bridges.

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