SYRACUSE, Neb. (AP) — A recent report by a national nonprofit research group has found that 19 percent of Nebraska’s rural bridges were rated structurally deficient in 2013.

The state has about 15,500 bridges owned by the state, counties and cities. It has the 16th most in the nation.

The Washington D.C.-based nonprofit TRIP found Nebraska has the seventh highest number of rural bridges designated as structurally deficient last year.

Each rural bridge is inspected once every two years, and inspectors determine how many tons each can support safely.

But a Nebraska state bridge engineer says the report needs to be put into perspective. He says the report counts a 20-foot bridge in Nebraska the same as the length of any other bridge.