Work begins on Dog Creek bridge in Rogers County

Starting today, some motorists in Rogers County will have to find another route to get where they're going. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has shut down a bridge along state Highway 88,

Sunday, March 6th 2005, 6:55 pm

By: News On 6

Starting today, some motorists in Rogers County will have to find another route to get where they're going. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has shut down a bridge along state Highway 88, just south of Claremore.

The state decided to close that bridge for emergency repair. Dog Creek Bridge is one of the worst in the state. It's been patched before, most recently last spring, but that didn't stop the deterioration, with chunks of the curb worn away, the concrete railing bent. And you can actually see steel beams coming up through the cement.

The bridge was in such bad shape, state transportation officials lowered its weight limit to 15 tons. Now, they've ordered an emergency shut down to fix it. The road between Inola and Claremore is now closed and some folks who travel the road often are not happy about it. Amanda Hudgins: "Itâ€™s going to inconvenience me tremendously. I'm probably going to have to travel an hour, hour and a half just to get to work."

The state transportation officials say the job will take up to 12 days to finish.