JEFFERSON CITY, MO. ? Missouri’s transportation department is inspecting dozens of bridges over the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in response to faults found recently in a Kansas City bridge.

So far, the state has inspected just seven bridges but already has discovered problems that caused some of the lanes to be closed on the eastbound Blanchette Bridge, which carries Interstate 70 traffic over the Missouri River between St. Louis and St. Charles counties.

The widespread inspections are “just a good precautionary measure,” Don Hillis, director of operations for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said Wednesday.

“We’re going to go the extra step to make sure bridges are safe, but I don’t expect us finding any other major problems.”

The Paseo Bridge, one of the main corridors into downtown Kansas City, was closed Jan. 22 after a fractured metal plate caused one section of the bridge to rise about 8 inches above another section. It reopened Saturday.

While the bridge was closed, the state repaved it and made other improvements. The total cost to the state was about $700,000, Hillis said. Transportation officials had no cost estimate yet on the Blanchette Bridge repairs.

The federal government requires bridges to be inspected every two years, although Missouri inspects many of its bridges once a year.

Transportation director Henry Hungerbeeler said he ordered the stepped up inspections after the Paseo Bridge problems.