ATLANTA --- Local governments often don't repair structurally deficient bridges for years after state officials point out problems, allowing problems to worsen and potentially boosting the costs of patching up the structures, according to a state audit released last week.

But Georgia Department of Transportation officials said most of the problems aren't likely to cause the bridges to fail.

The finding is part of a report issued late Friday examining the department's bridge inspection program and governments' reactions to it. The report comes in the wake of last summer's fatal bridge collapse in Minnesota.

"Local governments frequently do not make the routine, preventative repairs recommended by the GDOT bridge inspection unit," says the report, issued by the Department of Audits and Accounts. "While many of the 'minor' inspection findings do not pose immediate danger to the operation of the bridge, continued neglect of these maintenance issues will likely lead to premature bridge deterioration and ultimately increased costs associated with bridge rehabilitation or replacement."

According to the auditors' review of 11 counties across Georgia, about 86 percent of the problems reported in a first inspection were still there when the state checked back two years later. And about 91 percent of problems from the second inspection weren't fixed before inspectors looked at the bridge a third time after another two years had passed.

Department spokesman David Spear stressed that a bridge can be deemed "structurally deficient" for many reasons, not all of them closely tied to the bridge's integrity.

"When a bridge is deemed structurally deficient, that does not in and of itself mean that that bridge is in any danger of any sort of imminent failure," he said.

The audit points out, though, that even seemingly minor problems can damage a bridge if left unchecked.

"Everything in a sufficiency rating needs to be addressed, some more urgently than others," Mr. Spear said. "And in an ideal world, I'm sure the cities and counties will tell you they'd go out and do it the very first year."

Many of those governments, though, don't have the money needed to repair the bridges, Mr. Spear said.

Local officials recognize the problem, voting at the Georgia Municipal Association's annual convention last month in Savannah that infrastructure funds was the No. 1 need.

But the report suggests funding isn't always the main reason the bridges aren't maintained.

The report blames a lack of trained local officials for the slow pace of repairs and suggests GDOT require local government officials to receive training on keeping up the bridges before they get state funding for bridge repairs. And the state agency should publish a "Bridge Maintenance Guide," auditors recommended.

GDOT officials told the auditors that they have already started to address both recommendations.