OKLAHOMA CITY - Contracts totaling $9.2 million on four transportation projects in Southwestern Oklahoma – including replacement of three state highway bridges built prior to World War II and resurfacing of a four-lane highway – were approved recently by the state Transportation Commission.
US-183 in Tillman County will be repaved with asphalt from one mile north of the SH-5 junction near Frederick northward for seven miles, to Manitou. At $4,260,389, Cornell Construction Co. of Clinton was the lower of two bidders for the job.
That section of the highway carries approximately 2,000 vehicles per day, Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) records indicate.
A $1,610,199 contract was awarded for replacement of a bridge on SH-53 that crosses the south fork of Deer Creek 4.3 miles east of the US-81 junction near Comanche, in Stephens County. C3 Construction from Ada was the lower of two bidders for that job.
The average daily traffic volume on that stretch of highway is approximately 710 vehicles.
The new bridge will be 74 feet long and 34 feet wide, to accommodate two lanes of traffic and shoulders on each side, ODOT reported. The existing structure was built in 1927 when Calvin Coolidge was President of the United States and George Herman “Babe” Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.
The bridge on US-62B that spans the west fork of Deep Creek one-half mile northwest of the US-62 junction near Snyder will be replaced.
The new structure will be comprised of three 12-foot-by-9-foot steel-reinforced concrete boxes, according to ODOT. A $971,654 contract on that Kiowa County project was awarded to Sewell Brothers of Oklahoma City, the lowest of four bidders for the work.
The existing bridge was constructed in 1932 when a gallon of gasoline cost 10 cents and Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the first of his four elections as President.
A bridge on SH-5 over Sandy Creek two and a half miles west of the SH-6 junction near Eldorado will be replaced with a new structure 313½ feet long, ODOT announced.
A $2,405,161 contract on the Jackson County project was awarded to Sewell Brothers of Oklahoma City, the sole bidder for the job.
Daily traffic volume on that section of SH-5 averages 190 vehicles, ODOT records indicate.
The existing bridge was constructed in 1939, when “The Wizard of Oz” starring Judy Garland premiered, the average price of a new car was $700, and World War II broke out.