Bridge Could Be Closed For Two Years

Wednesday, November 21st 2007, 11:07 am

By: News On 6

WEBBERS FALLS, Okla. (AP) -- Muskogee County commissioners say a lack of funding could mean a dilapidated bridge that crosses over a Webbers Falls creek could be closed for about two years.

The 100-foot steel-truss span that crosses over Dirty Creek broke through, forcing its closure Friday.

Officials suspect someone drove across the aging structure with a load that was too heavy for the old bridge, causing the rusted steel girder to snap and leaving steel cross members dangling from the old wooden deck.

Muskogee County Commissioner Ronnie Pevehouse says the Dirty Creek bridge was identified by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation as a high priority improvement in a five-year work plan to improve county transportation systems.

Pevehouse says efforts are being made to expedite replacement of the dilapidated bridge, whose closure means a five- to eight-mile detour for area residents who live north of the area.

The state Department of Transportation says the bridge replacement project is expected to cost nearly $1.3 million.