(MAP) A Guided Tour of Edina's Most Deficient Bridges

The small steel bridge carrying West 54th Street across Minnehaha Creek is currently classified as the worst one in Edina, according to information from the National Bridge Inventory Database.

The 11 meter bridge—initially constructed in 1935—is ranked as "structurally deficient" by the NBID, with the deck and substructure of the bridge ranked as satisfactory, while the superstructure is listed as poor condition. On a 100-point scale, the bridge scores a 31.6 percent sufficiency rating.

The two-lane bridge typically averages 2,586 cars driving over it on a daily basis. The NBID states the small bridge is "basically intolerable, requiring high priority of replacement."

Concerns had also been raised about the Interstate 35W bridge, which collapsed five years ago today, killing 13. However, that bridge carried a much heavier traffic load than the small Edina structure. In 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board announced the I-35W bridge's steel gusset plates were undersized and inadequate to support the intended load of the bridge—a load which had increased over time.

Reconstruction work on West 54th Street is currently planned for 2014, though it's not clear if that will include an overhaul of the problematic bridge.

Only one other Edina bridge was identified as "structurally deficient." An eight-meter stretch of West 56th Street crossing Minnehaha Creek managed a 40.8 percent sufficiency rating. Another 10 Edina bridges were classified as "functionally obsolete" by the NBID, all of which can be scoped out via the handy map above.

All of them meet or exceed the minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as they are.

• Read about other bridges in Minnesota Patch towns .
• Where were you when the bridge collapsed five years ago? Share your thoughts and memories here.

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