Expedited Bridge Inspections Nearly Complete

Friday, October 5th 2007, 6:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A top official from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said THursday that bridge inspections in the state that were ordered after the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge in August are nearly complete. ODOT Deputy Director John Fuller says the inspections of the state's eight bridges with a deck truss design similar to that of the Minneapolis bridge are finished, and that the inspections of 64 other Oklahoma bridges deemed "fracture critical" should be finished by the end of this month.

The inspection of one of the deck truss bridges, on U.S. Highway 70 over the Kiamichi River near Hugo in Choctaw County, resulted in an immediate repair being made, although there was no danger of collapse.

Before the inspection, the state already had started construction on a new bridge to replace the deck truss bridge, which was built in 1933. The new bridge is scheduled to open in spring 2008.