Repairs Continue On Once-Crumbling Catoosa Bridge

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

CATOOSA, OK -- Six weeks ago, the I-44 bridge over 163rd East Avenue in Catoosa was crumbling. Even after a start during terrible weather, and with all the problems of unexpected holes forming - ODOT has finished the first phase of demolition and repair, and soon will start new construction.

ODOT has finished some stabilization work on the bridges so they can continue job of replacing them. The state ended up rebuilding a third of each bridge - just so they would last another few months.

"Everybody is keeping an eye on this bridge, making sure that we don't have any problem," said Casey Shell, ODOT Operations Manager.

In February, two big holes opened up in the bridges - and now ODOT knows why that happened.

"The reason that we developed the hole in the outside shoulder is the fact that the water drains to the outside of the bridge, carrying the salt and the sand, which is hard on the concrete and the steel, and always, the outside edge is in the worse condition," Shell said.

3/24/2010 Related Story: Developing Pothole On I-44 Bridge In Catoosa Repaired

ODOT has since torn out and replaced those lanes - which is where traffic is now. In a couple of weeks they'll start building a new bridge, working from the inside of the highway to the outside lanes - building a lane - then tearing out another - through the end of the year.

"We didn't get started on this project any too soon," said Randle White, ODOT Division Engineer.

ODOT's division engineer says state will spend more than the original $7 million estimate for the job.

The extra cost is in rebuilding two lanes of the bridge - with extra supports so it won't fall down before ODOT tears it down in a few months.

"Those are some extra safety measures we've put in there as well to protect the people driving on top of the bridge and the people driving underneath on 163rd," White said.

Replacing this bridge will take until the end of the year, but ODOT has more than 500 in the same kind of shape being replaced over the next 8 years - and hundreds more in the same shape - not yet even on the schedule.

These bridges carry 90,000 cars a day - and that's why they were bumped to the top of the list.