Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/bridge-inspections-under-scrutiny-after-minneapolis-collapse Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The collapse of a highway bridge in Minneapolis highlighted the need for better inspections of U.S. infrastructure. Correspondent Betty Ann Bowser explains the inspection process and improvements some are demanding. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Navy divers continued searching for missing victims of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis today, while inspectors checked the condition of many bridges around the country. More than 73,000 bridges are rated "structurally deficient" by the U.S. Department of Transportation. NewsHour correspondent Betty Ann Bowser has our Science Unit report on what inspectors are looking for. BETTY ANN BOWSER, NewsHour Correspondent: As one of the 18 full-time bridge inspectors in Missouri, Kevin Wegener spent most of the past week suspended in mid-air over the side of a steel-truss deck bridge, almost identical to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis.The Hurricane Deck Bridge is a 72-year-old structure over the Lake of the Ozarks in southwestern Missouri. For Wegener, it's not just business as usual. As he visually surveys the condition of the bridge, Minneapolis is ever present in the back of his mind. KEVIN WEGENER, Bridge Inspector: I watched the whole thing. And it kind of makes you think, like, say when you go down to make sure you look at everything thorough and don't miss nothing and… BETTY ANN BOWSER: He looks carefully at the pieces of steel held together at their joints with gusset plates, the framework that makes this a truss bridge. He wants to know if there are any signs of rust, corrosion or cracks. In addition to looking below the bridge, he also carefully surveys the top, known as the bridge's deck.What are you trying to capture in these photographs right now? KEVIN WEGENER: The full length of the driving surface, joints, hand railing, curbing. BETTY ANN BOWSER: And what are you looking for? KEVIN WEGENER: Deficiencies. BETTY ANN BOWSER: And he finds a couple: first, a crack in the pavement; then, something potentially more serious. KEVIN WEGENER: The joint has a tear, about a two-foot tear. It's actually letting water go through. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Is that bad? KEVIN WEGENER: It can be. The joint is actually where your expansion device is at that lets it expand and contract. If a bridge don't move, that's not good. It should have movement.