Document text
Kirtland Road Bridge will be retiring soon By BUFFY POLLOCK WHITE CITY - Suffering from a slipped post, a failing foundation and a noticeable sag in the middle, the 48-year-old Kirtland Road Bridge spanning Bear Creek will be retiring. Construction on a replacement for the county bridge west of White City is expected to begin in May 2002. The Jackson County Roads Department will hold an open house Tuesday in White City to accept input and answer questions from neighbors. Mike Kuntz, county construction engineer, said the bridge will be replaced with a similar concrete box-girder structure built slightly to the south of the current alignment. The new location will correct a sharp curve as well as allow the old bridge to handle traffic during the construction process. "We're expecting very little in the way of traffic disruption," Kuntz said. Construction is expected to take 18 months and will cost an estimated $1.9 million. The Federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program will provide 80 percent of the funding. The Oregon Department of Transportation and Jackson County will each fund 10 percent. Kuntz said bids would be accepted in early 2002 and construction would begin shortly thereafter. An increase in truck traffic has made the replacement necessary, Kuntz said. A slipped post and crumbling foundation have caused the bridge to dip down in the center. Safety is not currently jeopardized, but the bridge does fail to meet basic standards, Kuntz said. "It could hang around another 20 years, but not with the heavy truck traffic it gets," he said. "If you go out and drive across the bridge, you'll note that the bridge sags down where one of the foundation piles has slipped. The foundation is failing and with the levels of traffic out there now, it would maybe last 10 years." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.