Rochester motorists were told to be alert for lane restrictions Monday afternoon as the Minnesota Department of Transportation begins bridge inspections at two sites in the city. The inspections of the Fourth Street Southeast bridge over Bear Creek and the East Center Street bridge over the Zumbro River on Rochester’s east side mark the beginning of the bridge inspection season where 900 bridges are scheduled for MnDOT’s bridge inspection team in southeastern Minnesota’s 11-county district.

MnDOT is scheduled to inspect 392 bridges for cities and counties in southeastern

Minnesota along with 468 of MnDOT’s bridges in the region. An additional 40 are inspected in McLeod County.

Bridge inspections are conducted by MnDOT for select structures in Dodge, Mower, Winona, Goodhue, Houston, Rice and Steele counties, as well as bridges in the cities of Rochester, Albert Lea, Faribault, La Crescent, Northfield and Owatonna.

A snooper truck is used during MnDOT inspections. The truck is a specialty vehicle that

has a multi-jointed arm with a basket attached at the end to hold the bridge inspectors. The equipment allows the team to maneuver under the bridge, while the truck is parked on the bridge deck.

MnDOT urges motorists to always be attentive, drive with caution, slow down in work zonesand never enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.

For real-time traffic and travel information in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org or get the free smartphone app at Google Play or the app store.