http://www.msnbc.msn.com:80/id/20102713Fallen bridge was rated among nation's worstMore than 70,000 bridges across the country rated ‘structurally deficient’Fact File: I-35W bridge
Location: East of downtown Minneapolis
Year built: 1967
Bridge design: Deck truss with steel multi-girder approach spans
Length: 1,907 ft.
Width: 108 ft.
Height above water: 64 ft.
Number of lanes: Four in each direction
Average daily traffic: More than 100,000
Sources: University of Minnesota, AP • Print this
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Only 4 percent of the United States' high-traffic bridges scored worse than the steel-deck truss bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, according to an analysis of federal records by MSNBC.com.
The Minneapolis' I-35W bridge was at the bottom of the ratings systems, but it was not alone in being flawed in some way.
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion, The Associated Press reports.
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