The Minneapolis bridge collapse highlighted bridge safety across the country, including Central Texas.
Four people were confirmed dead and 79 were injured in Wednesday's collapse. Thirty people were missing, and the death toll is expected to rise.
People are wondering if a collapse of that magnitude could happen in Texas.
Texas Department of Transportation structural engineers said no, but some bridges in the state share the same structurally deficient rating as the bridge in Minneapolis.
More than 250,000 cars pass over Texas bridges every day, like the Interstate 35 upper deck in Austin.
"All the bridges in Texas are safe," said Alan Kowalik, a state bridge inspection engineer. "We inspect our bridges every two years, there's 50,000 bridges. We spend approximately $10 million a year inspecting our bridges."
Nearly 150 TxDOT inspectors spend each day crossing every bridge they come to.
"We look on the rail for cracks," said a TxDOT inspector. "We do look for any kind of impact damage, if the rail does have any impact damage, we note all that. This rail looks in pretty good shape here."
The 2006 report on Texas bridges rated 77 percent of the state's bridges as sufficient, which means they're in good or better condition, and 16 percent are considered functionally obsolete.
TxDOT said that doesn't mean those bridges can't carry heavy loads. The rating is because of the increase of average daily traffic and the ability of the structure to carry those extra vehicles.
Only 4 percent of the state's bridges are rated structurally deficient.
"A structurally deficient bridge is still safe," said Kowalik. "Even though it's structurally deficient, that just means there's something with the bridge that needs to be looked at closer."
TxDOT's inspections include Austin's 335 bridges and flyovers, old and new. The city uses the data collected for preventative maintenance.
"We have a team of engineers and associates that look at the bridges constantly, to ensure they're adequately maintained," said David Magana of the Austin Street and Bridge Division.
These days bridges are designed for a lifespan of 75 years.
"This is a pretty high deck, but you can look for cracks in the deck," said a TxDOT inspector.
Heavy trucks and increasing traffic continue to take a toll.
In TxDOT's 11-county district, there are 12 bridges that are classified as sub-standard load posted, which means trucks over a certain weight can't travel on them. Six are in Williamson County, and there is none in Travis County.
"At this point, I'm not aware of any particular bridge or area that requires that much more attention than any other," said Magana. "We look at all the bridges citywide."
The upper deck in Austin is not Austin's most traveled bridge. It's the southern portion of I-35 that crosses Lady Bird Lake.
Bridge Collapse History
One of the country's deadliest bridge collapses happened in Texas in 2001, when 8 people were killed after their vehicles plunged 85 feet into the Laguna Madre.
The Queen Isabella Causeway, which connects South Padre Island and Port Isabel in the Valley, collapsed when a tow boat smashed into a support beam.
One year later, 14 people died in Webbers Falls, Okla., when a 500-foot section of Interstate 40 collapsed into the Arkansas River. That accident was also caused by a rogue barge.
The deadliest bridge accident in the U.S. happened in 1980 in Tampa, Fla. Thirty-five people died when the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapsed.