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The overall health of Albuquerque's bridges is much better than the national average — and even the state average.

Only 5 percent of Albuquerque's bridges have been labeled "structurally deficient," which the Federal Highway Administration defines as "characterized by deteriorated conditions of significant bridge elements and reduced load-carrying capacity."

The national average is 22 percent, and the state average is 15 percent, said S.U. Mahesh, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

"Our bridges are safe," Mahesh said. "And Albuquerque has some of the newest and best bridges in the state."

Still, after a 458-foot-long steel-arch bridge collapsed in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, Gov. Bill Richardson called for the inspection of four similar bridges in New Mexico.

None of those bridges are in the Albuquerque area. They are: I-25 near Nogal Canyon, in central New Mexico; the U.S. 64 Gorge Bridge near Taos; U.S. 54 near Logan on the Canadian River and U.S. 64 near Shiprock in the far northwest part of the state.

New Mexico has more than 3,800 bridges, with 691 labeled as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the FHA.

But people shouldn't be overly concerned that any bridges here are about to collapse, said Rola Idriss, a civil engineering professor at New Mexico State University.

Idriss is an expert on the structural integrity of bridges.

"In New Mexico, I feel very confident that the Department of Transportation is very active in inspecting bridges, evaluating them and retrofitting them," Idriss said. "I feel confident our bridges are safe."

Bridges in New Mexico suffer common strains, such as cracking from snow, cold or heat, Idriss said.

"We're lucky that we don't have deicing salts here, like you see in Minnesota, because that can cause problems," Idriss said. The salts can cause exposed metal to corrode. "The weather is pretty good here. The stresses aren't unusual."