State Representative David Bly, District 25B

In 2005, the Minnesota Department of Transportation rated the 35W bridge over the Mississippi as "structurally deficient." There are many, many more bridges in Minnesota with that rating, according to a 2006 count by The Federal Highway Administration. Minnesota has 13,008 bridges and 1,135 are on the list of "Deficient Bridges" and another 451 are rated as "functionally obsolete." Here's a link to the bridge report and a comparison with other states. 

 

The Federal Highway Administration classifies bridges in need of an overhaul as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. "Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and Transit." Here are the definitions:

Structural deficiencies are characterized by deteriorated conditions of significant bridge elements and reduced load-carrying capacity. Functional obsolescence is a function of the geometrics of the bridge not meeting current design standards.

Neither type of deficiency indicates that a bridge is necessarily unsafe, but  a former N.T.S.B. chairman told the Star-Tribune:

"A structurally deficient bridge might be one not adequate for the traffic it takes, but not necessarily dangerous," Burnett said. "But a lot of structurally deficient bridges are dangerous."

The report also said that "rural bridges tend to have a higher percentage of structural deficiencies, while urban bridges have a higher incidence of functional obsolescence due to rising traffic volumes."