During a recent inspection, Scott County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation deemed insufficient the only bridge that gives drivers access to the Mini-Met baseball park.

Jordan City Engineer Carol Caron told the city council on Monday night that the bridge, which hadn't been inspected in four years, needed to be reinforced. 

"The holes through the iron is alarming," Mayor Ron Jabs said. 

But Caron was quick to caution him, saying, "This is not a fracture-critical bridge like the 35W bridge is."

Since the tragedy along Interstate 35W, county and state officials across the nation have been rechecking bridges for faults, even those that appear minimal.

For the Rice Street bridge, the city agreed to pay $5,000 from its unallocated fund for Erickson Engineering to provide the city with:

- further visual observations;

- documentation of the damage;

- a low-capacity rating that would restrict the weight allowed on the bridge;

- minor repairs;

- and summary findings, including a recommendation to either repair or replace the structure.

Money is available for redoing the bridge, which was built in 1936 at the south end of Rice Street in downtown Jordan. Recycled steel was used in the construction, so the bridge might technically be 20 or 30 years older than its construction date.

The state bonds for bridges every two years. The Rice Street bridge will receive a sufficiency rating of 60, although the report is not yet completed. A rating of 80 qualifies a bridge for state funds.

Other cities are hoping to cost share with the state, as well. 

"We have to wait our turn in line," Caron said. 

But once the city's turn comes in two or four years, it will only be on the hook for 10 percent of the cost of either reconstruction or repairs. 

The project will be added to the city's capital improvement plan, which details the timing and the cost of Jordan's big-ticket future purchases.

A reconstruction project is unlikely, Public Works Director Dave Bendzick said, because the road would have to be widened. Reinforcing the bridge would be a much easier project.