ROCHESTER, Minn. – State highway crews will begin their post-winter bridge safety inspections next week. Michael Dougherty, spokesperson for the Transportation Department, said 1,100 structures and bridges in southeast Minnesota will be checked. Some lanes will be closed briefly, he said. Although some inspections are creek-side and in dips, others use snooper trucks with booms that hang over the edge of a bridge to give inspectors an up-close look.
Snooper truck. Custom-built vehicles allow crews to inspect not otherwise visible undersides and external surfaces of bridges. The greatest danger, as this sticker, affixed to a yellow snooper warns: The boom can strike a powerline during maneuvering.