Ohio Department of Transportation crews made the call to shut down the Ft. Steuben Bridge Thursday after finding concrete slabs in the bridge deck shifting.

Traffic is banned from the bridge until an inspection can tell them what caused it, how severe it is, and what can be done about it.

“It's best interest for public safety to get an inspection on the bridge and close it down," said ODOT Transportation Manager Tom Corey.

During routine maintenance work Thursday, ODOT crews found a bump in the bridge deck -- what they call a deflection.

"In the pavement, one slab might lift up a little bit higher than the other one. There's like a quarter-inch deflection out there," said Corey.

They made the call to seal off traffic while they wait on a team of engineers from Columbus to come in Friday with what they call a "snooper truck" for the inspection.

It will keep the bridge closed for a while.

"Probably all day tomorrow, at least most of the day, it will be shut down for the inspection," said Corey.

If it doesn't pass, it could stay shut down. The bridge is already set for demolition in the fall.

"Tomorrow we'll have a better idea. Right now this is safety precautionary effort to close it right now until we see what goes on with the bridge," said Corey.

The inspection is set to start around 9 a.m. Friday. In the meantime, all traffic is being routed onto the Veterans Memorial Bridge.