The Utah Department of Transportation has begun inspecting about 200 high-risk bridges in the state after a fatal bridge collapse in Minneapolis last week.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. ordered UDOT to reinspect the Utah bridges as result of the Minnesota bridge collapse, which killed five people and injured at least 100. Governors across the nation issued similar inspection orders.

David Eixenberger, UDOT bridge operations engineer, said Monday that he anticipates funds for the extra bridge inspections will come from the agency's normal operating budget. The state typically spends about $900,000 a year on bridge inspections.

"These are things we would normally be doing, but we are doing these on a much quicker rate," Eixenberger said.

Included in the $900,000 is a line-item for consultants to help out on bridge inspections. Funds for consultants to verify inspections of the 200 bridges will likely come from that budget item, Eixenberger said.

Two or three salaried UDOT employees will be taken from their regular jobs to assist with the inspections, so UDOT doesn't anticipate a cost increase there, either. Eixenberger said the inspections will happen in two phases, with the first finishing by September.

That first phase will focus on high-risk bridges such as those along I-80 from State Street to Highland Drive, and the bridge at Beck Street in Davis County. The second phase will focus on bridges considered "fracture critical" — those with fewer areas that can hold a load if a beam were to break or some other part of the bridge structure were to fail.

Second-phase inspections are anticipated to be complete by November, after which UDOT will issue a report.

The agency is hopeful the inspections will validate its bridge-review process.

"We feel the bridge system is healthy," Eixenberger said. "While it's not perfect, we feel it's healthy and safe overall."

---

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com