Bridge Damaged By Oversized Load

One of Bartlesville's busiest intersections needs big repairs after a truck driver misjudged the height of a bridge and plowed head-on into it Wednesday night.  The News On 6's Steve Berg reports officials say the truck was as much as a foot too tall to fit under the bridge and both took a beating.

Nearby road construction was already creating some traffic headaches along Highway 75 in Bartlesville.  Now, John Burrus of Bartlesville says the situation is worse.

"In fact, I drive a truck, so I know exactly what kind of problems," said John Burrus.

The missing concrete from the bridge is conspicuous.  But, ODOT's Kenna Mitchell says it's mostly cosmetic according to the inspector.

"He checked it to make sure it wasn't impacting the weight-bearing load of the bridge, and he says that the structural integrity of it is okay," said ODOT's Kenna Mitchell.

The problem is that vibrations from the Highway 60 Bridge above could shake loose more concrete onto the road below, which is why most of the lane closures are beneath the bridge.

For the time being there is only one lane going northbound and one lane going southbound, which is bound to cause some headaches during rush hour.

"During rush hour, during noon, and at five, it's terribly busy.  Of course you know the problem up on Nowata Road.  That's creating a problem.  Then you come to another one here less than half-a-mile down the road," said John Burrus.

"We do have it fast-tracked right now.  We're getting our repair plans put together.  We're hoping that within the next ten days we can start repair work on the bridge," said ODOT's Kenna Mitchell.

She says it could be several more days; maybe weeks before the repairs are finished.

Of course, there's the whole matter of how much the repair is going to cost.  ODOT says it will be pursuing the truck's insurance company to cover that expense.

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07/16/2008  Oversized Load Crashes Into Bridge