Oklahoma Has 11 Deck Truss Bridges, Not 15

Thursday, August 9th 2007, 6:44 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma has only 11 bridges with similar construction to the one that collapsed last week in Minneapolis, four fewer than previously thought, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said Thursday.

On Monday, ODOT officials gave the media a list of 15 bridges in Oklahoma they said were built using a deck truss design. State Transportation Director Gary Ridley said that all those bridges would receive expedited reinspections during the next 30 to 45 days.

But ODOT said Thursday that four county-owned bridges on the list were determined to be of a different design, including the oldest bridge on the list, an Alfalfa County span built in 1914. The other bridges taken off the list are in Kiowa, Comanche and Lincoln counties.

Of the 11 remaining bridges, four are state-owned, six are county-owned and one is owned by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

The only Oklahoma counties with more than one deck truss bridge are Jackson, which has three, and Ottawa, which has two. One apiece can be found in Choctaw, Cleveland, Lincoln, Love, McCurtain, Pittsburg and Seminole counties. The 11 bridges were built between 1925 and 1966.

None of the Oklahoma bridges are exactly like the one in Minneapolis, which included a steel arch with its deck truss design.

Related Stories:

8/2/2007 - State Officials Say Oklahoma Bridges Are Safe

8/2/2007 - Bridge Failure Recalls Oklahoma I-40 Collapse

8/3/2007 - Structurally Deficient Bridges

8/3/2007 Oklahoma Bridges Get Poor Rating

8/9/2007 ODOT Inspects Broken Arrow Expressway Bridge