OGDENSBURG — Steel plates connecting beams in the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge will be scrutinized during its biannual inspection.

The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority's board of directors awarded a $110,000 bridge inspection contract to Babylon engineering firm Greenman-Pedersen at its meeting Tuesday. The 48-year-old bridge will be inspected in August.

"We're doing a thorough inspection of the bridge," OBPA Director of Operations Steven J. Lawrence said.

The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, a suspension and deck-truss bridge that carries vehicle traffic over the St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada, has a similar design to the Interstate 35W span that collapsed in Minneapolis last August.

The bridge's gusset plates — steel parts used at the intersection of structural beams and crucial to bridge support — will receive special attention during the inspection. The state Department of Transportation recently issued an advisory that gusset plates on all bridges be thoroughly inspected.

Then-Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer ordered 49 bridges statewide, including the Ogdensburg-Prescott span, to be reinspected shortly after the Minneapolis tragedy.

Greenman-Pedersen performed an interim inspection of the trusses in late October and found no major issues with the bridge, OBPA officials said.

The bridge was rated "in fair to good condition" in two recent bridge inspection reports, with no structural deficiencies found, an engineering firm concluded.

The 2004 and 2006 bridge inspections were conducted by Poughkeepsie engineering firm Modjeski and Masters, which designed the structure in the mid-1950s. The maintenance and repair items identified from the previous bridge inspection were corrected by the public authority, the summary reports said.

The 2006 report included an underwater inspection of the 27 piers for the bridge, which were found "in good condition." The underwater inspection is done every four years.

The inspectors will use guidelines of the National Bridge Inspection Standards of the Federal Highway Administration and regulations of the state DOT.

The public authority is undertaking a $15 million rehabilitation of the international bridge, which is being painted and getting new decking. The OBPA plans to spend $75 million over 15 years to rehabilitate the bridge.

Mr. Lawrence said the bridge inspection will cost about $95,000, with the remainder covering the special inspection focusing on gusset plates. OBPA officials said Modjeski and Masters was asked to submit a bridge inspection bid, but declined the offer.