Buckled bridge closes Oklahoma Highway 33 near downtown Guthrie

The bridge, in the Cottonwood Creek area, was closed between 7 and 8 p.m. Wednesday and is expected to be closed until before rush hour Friday afternoon, said Terri Angier, state Transportation Department spokeswoman.

“The two panels basically expanded at the joint and are pushing at each other, so they actually come up a few inches on the roadway,” Angier said Thursday. “Heat, temperatures like this, do cause older bridges, older pavement, to do this type of buckling before, of course, good pavement.”

The temperature hit 113 degrees Wednesday at Guthrie, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet weather network.

Angier said transportation officials watch areas that might be especially susceptible because of the age of the roadways.

“The trick is: It is really hard to predict,” she said. “Some of them go through a few weeks of buildup with high temperatures; some of them immediately do it because they've already gone through the buildup cycle with the previous heat wave.”