ODOT Closes 2 State Bridges for Repairs

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has temporarily closed two state bridges after an evaluation showed the bridges were not up to code.

The closed bridges are located in Choctaw County on SH-109 over the Kiamichi River and in Garvin County on SH-74 over the Washita River. The load limits for 25 other bridges in the state were also temporarily reduced, meaning heavy vehicles are not allowed to cross those bridges.

"We certainly have a duty to err on the side of caution," ODOT Chief Engineer Gary Evans said. "When we saw the preliminary information from the design evaluations, we decided to take action on the bridges until further determinations can be made."

Engineers are working quickly to repair the bridges and reopen them as soon as possible.

Bridges with temporary load postings following design evaluations:
-Beckham County SH-34 North Fork of the Red River
-Bryan County SH-78 Red River
-Canadian County US-281 Canadian River
-Cherokee County SH-100 Dry Creek
-Coal County US-75 Rock Creek
-Garvin County SH-76 Washita River
-Garvin County US-77 Washita River
-Grant County US-60 Salt Fork of the Arkansas River
-Haskell County SH-2 Beaver Creek
-Hughes County SH-9 Wewoka Creek
-Johnston County SH-99 Washita River
-Latimer County SH-1 Buffalo Creek
-Leflore County SH-63 Billy Creek
-Leflore County SH-63 Kiamichi River
-Leflore County US-270 Caston Creek
-Leflore County US-271 Fourche Maline
-Lincoln County SH-66 Business Capitan Creek
-Lincoln County US-177 Deep Fork River
-Marshall County SH-32 Hauani Creek
-McCurtain County US-70 Little River
-McCurtain County US-70 Mountain Fork River
-McCurtain County SH-3 Glover River
-McCurtain County US-70 Yashau Creek
-Pushmataha County SH-3 Kiamichi River
-Pushmataha County US-271 Kiamichi River

Temporarily closed
-Garvin County SH-74 Washita River
-Choctaw County SH-109 Kiamichi River