Mark Leonard has spent 24 years ensuring the safety of nearly half of Colorado's 8,000 spans. Cities and counties own the rest of the bridges - more than 4,000 .

The state says it has to replace 110 bridges and do major repair on 375 others. Those figures don't include locally owned bridges.

Leonard talked Thursday about the condition of Colorado's bridges.

Can a disaster such as the Minneapolis bridge collapse happen here?

A complete failure can happen if you do not take care of your structures.

What are you doing to prevent that?

The state of Colorado has a good inspection program. We make sure that we're looking at these structures. When we find problems, we make it a very high priority to repair any problems that would affect the safety of the bridges.

What happened in Minnesota is a reminder that you do need to look at your bridges. You do need to take care of your bridges. Because if you don't, the consequences are traumatic.

What do you consider the worst bridge in the state?

Our biggest concern is the I-70 elevated near the Denver Coliseum. When people say, 'Can this happen here,' this is a structure on a scale similar to the one in Minneapolis as far as the traffic it carries and the size of the structure.

Do you actually have crumbling concrete on the I-70 viaduct?

Yes we do. The problems with corrosion is where salt and water come in contact with the main carrying elements of the super structure. So the girders . . . up there in the air where they are exposed to (deicing) salt and water is where we have our most serious problems . . . And, of course, it's the most important members of the bridge that are getting the corrosion.

Should Colorado motorists be worried?

People don't need to be concerned about the safety of their bridges. Because safety is our number one priority, and the resources we have available we are spending on making things safe.