Portion of downtown road closed down due to inadequate underground bridge

Following a bridge inspection on Monday, the City of Guthrie has closed down a portion of a downtown road indefinitely.

During an annual Fracture Critical Inspection of the Harrison bridge structure, at the intersection of Wentz St., below Harrison Ave. and over the facility storage of Jelsma Stadium, it was found the structural capacity needs immediate attention.

On Tuesday, the City reduced the weight limit over the bridge from 12 tons to three tons.

However, on Friday, road closing signs, caution tape and cones closed off the section and forced traffic around the underground bridge.

“We decided to error on the side of caution,” City Manager Leroy Alsup told Guthrie News Page on closing the portion of the road.

Harrison Ave. remains passable for both east and westbound traffic.

Alsup says the portion of the road will likely be closed until more information on the bridge can be learned and a plan is in place.

In addition to traffic flow, Alsup said such events as Red Brick Nights, where thousands of people are expected, made the decision much easier to make.

According to the inspection company, H. W. Lochner, who is contracted by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the three-span structure consisting of a steel beam superstructure with steel pier beams has significant section loss to a number of the steel beams.