Cold, weight closes bridge

The bridge crossing the Encampment River on County Road 680 is closed until further notice, according to Carbon County Road and Bridge Supervisor Bill Nation.

Nation said the lower cord, which was broken, will need to be replaced.

Nation is working with PMPC, which is the lead engineer on the project. Martin and Martin is working on the structural engineer design, Nation said.

Nation is also working with Wyoming Department of Transportation's Pat Pearson in Cheyenne.

The final repair scenario, which Nation referred to as Alternate 1 is to completely replace previously repaired cord members. "Everything that needs to be replaced will be replaced with new structural steel," Nation said.

The temporary repair, which was done by Nation in August, was a 3-ton limit and after this repair Nation is hoping to go back to full load limit of 8 tons, 15 tons and 15 tons depending on the amount of axles going across the bridge.

"We want to get back to our old standard of weights on the bridge and replace everything that has been injured or damaged in the last 25 or 30 years," Nation said.

While the bridge is closed, a work-around is in place on the other side of the bridge where drivers can continue on County Road 680 to County Road 201 and go to Highway 230 east of Riverside. The route takes about 16 to 20 more minutes, Nation said.

The bridge is a 1940s style bridge that was built to withstand 8 tons with a couple of axles and 15 tons with several axles, Nation said. With today's weights and heavy loads, they are impacting an old, well-used bridge.

The riveted portion of the two-inch by two-inch angle is what broke, Nation said.. "What we think, and the sheriff's department is investigating it, an extremely heavy load impacted the bridge when it was 14 below zero."

Nation said that when there is really cold iron and then an extreme weight is added to it, it compromises the bridge. Since this is the second time the support has been damaged, Nation believed it was time to replace it with new steel on portions of the bottom of the bridge.

 

Reader Comments(0)