Concrete Falls Creating Hole In Interstate Bridge

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A hole in the Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway bridge forced officials to shut down all but one lane of westbound traffic on Thursday. <br/><br/>Oklahoma Highway patrol troopers

Thursday, September 20th 2007, 3:36 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A hole in the Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway bridge forced officials to shut down all but one lane of westbound traffic on Thursday.

Oklahoma Highway patrol troopers were on the scene of the congested area, along with a repair crew from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

Terri Angier, ODOT spokeswoman, said a chunk of concrete fell on a grassy area. Nobody was hurt.

Angier described it as two-foot-by-four foot ``pothole'' in the bridge decking.

She said the biggest problem was inconvenience to motorists during the rush hour, but the bridge was not in danger.

``We have to make repairs to the Crosstown almost constantly but it is not in danger of falling,'' she said. ``We are inspecting it a lot more frequently than national standards require.''

Angier said repairs have been made so often that the Crosstown has ``a lot more patches than original pavement. If you take an aerial (photograph) of the Crosstown, it looks like a blanket with a lot of squares on it.''