Today, one out of every three North Carolina bridges have the same deficiency rating as the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota. It's a concern among transportation officials, engineers and lawmakers, but the man in charge of North Carolina's roads and bridges says you are safe on the state's 17,000-plus bridges. "We do regular inspections," Department of Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett said. "We are not concerned with immediate safety of any of them."
A state Society of Civil Engineers study shows one-third of North Carolina's bridges are structurally deficient. "It just means it's not designed to carry the current load we have today," Society of Civil Engineers member David Peterson said. "A lot of the bridges we have today are over 50 years old." A Triple-A study also finds that North Carolina has the worst bridges in the southeast and is the 11th worst nationwide.