State stretches funds to repair 68 bridges

Published: December 3, 2007

Oklahoma is replacing or repairing 68 bridges with the special $100 million appropriation the Legislature approved in 2006, the state transportation director said today.

When the money was received, the department thought it could repair or replace 35 or 40 bridges, transportation director Gary Ridley told the Oklahoma Transportation Commission.

"With this funding, we have improved the state highway system by focusing on one of our most critical needs," Ridley said. "We set an ambitious goal and our designers and staff have exceeded our own expectations."

Normally, replacing a bridge takes three to four years of preparing, including environmental clearance, surveys, design, right of way purchases and utilities' relocations, the agency said.

"This doesn't solve our problems. However, it certainly was a shot in the arm," Ridley said of the $100 million appropriation.

The bridges are in various stages of construction, he said.

The transportation department used an accelerated schedule for replacing bridges.

Of the 68 bridges identified for one-time funding, 49 were load-posted, meaning they have limited capacity for carrying vehicles.

"Our job was to stretch this money as far as we could," said Greg Allen, the department's bridge engineer who is overseeing the program.

"It is rewarding to see this $100 million go as far as it did.

"We have a way to go in eliminating all critical bridges on the state highway system, but this funding helped substantially."

Oklahoma has 1,600 bridges on its highway system that are ranked as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, Ridley said.

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