OKLAHOMA CITY – Two aged, narrow bridges in Comanche and Stephens counties will be replaced under contracts awarded Monday by the state Transportation Commission.
One is on Coombs Road (east/west Comanche County Road 169) and crosses Cache Creek 1.2 miles east of Interstate 44 near Lawton, in the district of County Commissioner Gail Turner.
The steel truss bridge is 170 feet long and one lane wide and has a wooden deck. Its weight-bearing capacity is limited to 5 tons.
The structurally deficient bridge was built 54 years ago, in 1966, when Lyndon Baines Johnson was President of the United States, Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) records reflect. The bridge carries an average of 150 vehicles daily, research indicates.
A $1,360,551 contract was awarded to Frontier Bridge to tear out the existing bridge and build a new steel-reinforced concrete span at the site, and to construct new asphalt approaches at each end of the bridge. The Okarche company was given 120 days to finish the project after construction starts this summer. The site will be closed to traffic during construction, Turner said.
The other bridge is in Stephens County, southeast of Comanche on east/west County Road 186 over Cow Creek, according to ODOT. The steel bridge is 60 feet long and 19 feet wide, blueprints show, and has guard rails along its outside edges. The bridge was built in 1980 and its load-bearing capacity has been reduced, records reflect. Average daily traffic volume on the structure is 100 vehicles, ODOT records show.
Sewell Brothers of Oklahoma City won a $584,759 contract to demolish the existing bridge and construct a new one. The Transportation Commission allotted 120 days to complete the work after construction starts.