Cold Weather Halts Tulsa Highway Construction Projects

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Bone-chilling winds and frigid temperatures put several Green Country construction projects on ice.

Construction crews literally cannot get the job done in this kind of weather, but will that mean work zones will stick around long after the thaw?

Several big Tulsa highway projects have ground to halt in this bitter cold. ODOT officials say it affects everything from the materials to the equipment to the workers themselves.

Usually the churning of heavy machinery mutes the sounds of traffic coming from I-244 but for now the bulldozers are quiet and the whistling winds carrying temperatures in the teens are to blame.

"Obviously can't make asphalt and can't place it during the cold weather. so it affects everything that we do."

Paul Green, a construction engineer, says these freezing temperatures are bad for the equipment and can be dangerous for workers.

"You don't want workers out climbing forms or climbing a bridge and something like that and fall and have some sort of catastrophic accident, so most of our contractors have shutdown during the cold weather," Green said.

Frigid temperatures put the brakes on this project here at I-44 but ODOT says contractors are not penalized for bad weather. 

Green says weather days are built into the contracts.

 "Well, generally, when they take a day off, a lot of times they'll work some extra hours. Or they'll work Saturday or Sunday to make up some of that work. They're progressing greatly down there and we're very pleased to see that," Green said.

ODOT admits no one wants to see these jobs frozen but officials say it's best to wait until the weather improves to get the most out of our transportation dollars. 

"I want them to know we're trying to get the best job we can out of those contractors. and for them to be working during this time would not get the best quality of work," Green said.

ODOT says work is being done, even if you don't see it. The agency says crews are working indoors putting together frames and fixing equipment so the job can go faster when it's warm enough to get back on the job.