Update – July 25
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will not attack the viaduct as quickly as anticipated. However, the patching project does not appear it will take as long.
The contractor with the project did not believe he would receive the traffic lights until Monday, July 29 and moved his crew to complete another job. To his surprise, the next day the lights were available.
The lights will be used for single lane traffic control.
The contractor now plans to work around the clock beginning on the east side during the day and the west side during the nighttime hours. The project may not take nearly as long as first anticipated with the major portion of the job will proceed on July 29.
Original Post – July 21
While construction on the new viaduct is 14 months away, at the earliest, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be patching Guthrie’s aging and deteriorating viaduct bridge in the next week or two.
ODOT will be making repairs to the viaduct and sidewalk beginning Monday, July 22. The bridge is expected to be open to traffic throughout the construction.
The repairs will be performed with concrete rather than previous repairs utilizing asphalt.
Last week, a hole was spotted near the top of the bridge in the eastbound lane. The bridge was shut down for about 60 minutes until crews could patch the hole.
The much talked about bridge, with over 13,000 vehicles traveling the two-lane road, has become under scrutiny with several incidents over the past two years with numerous holes having to be patched.
The Bridge Sufficiently Rating of the viaduct has a poor rating of 21.1 out of a 100 point scale.
A 1,700 foot bridge, expected to cost about $16 million, will be constructed as early as October 2014. Both commercial and residential lands must be purchased from the current owners before workers can begin replacing the structurally deficient bridge.
In a workshop meeting held this past December with ODOT, Councilman Gaylord Z. Thomas asked an engineer, “are you comfortable it is going to last two years?” The engineer responded, “it has too”.
Related story: Concrete falls from viaduct; temporarily patched, again
Related story: Council updated on the latest involving the viaduct
Related story: Video: behind the scenes with ODOT and the viaduct
Related story: ODOT shuts down viaduct bridge; traffic being detoured
Related story: Public meeting scheduled for viaduct replacement project
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It seems like ODOT or even Logan County crews could provide an emergency solution for the viaduct problem in Guthrie. That patch actually is pretty frightening, and I hope it holds. Remember the 36k people that will be here for the Gentlemen of the Road show in Sept?! The increased traffic from that event alone will cause significant stress on the bridge. Thankfully, I don’t have to travel that way often.