By WBEZ
Chicago, IL – Dozen of bridges in Illinois are being inspected today in the wake of yesterday's bridge collapse in Minnesota.
Illinois Department of Transportation employees are checking bridges with high volumes of traffic or ones that span major waterways. I-DOT spokesman Mike Claffey (CLAFF-e) says right now the emphasis is on bridges near the Mississippi,
"There's really only a handful of bridges in Illinois that are similar design in construction to the one in Minnesota. Some of them are over the Mississippi, there's several in Peoria. These are obviously getting close scrutiny today."
Claffey says engineers are using visual inspections and ultrasonic technology to scrutinize bridges.
Illinois U-S Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have asked I-DOT for more specifics on the safety of Illinois bridges.