Feds Rate Local Bridge 'Deficient'

Hoback Junction Bridge in Poor Shape

By Gil Brady, 8-03-07

JACKSON, Wyo. – Five weeks before Wednesday’s bridge collapse in Minnesota, Wyoming’s Department of Transportation announced its plan to replace a heavily traveled bridge in Teton County spanning the Snake River at Hoback Junction.

Built during the Eisenhower admistration, the steel and wood arch bridge at the junction of U.S. Hwy 191 and 26 has been rated in the same poor condition as the 35W bridge that collapsed two days ago in Minneapolis, Minn., killing at least 5 people as of Friday, according to the Associated Press.

“We really need to get the structure replaced,” WYDOT District 3 engineer John Eddins told the Jackson Hole News & Guide in June.

According to the newspaper, to save weight WYDOT chose to use a wooden deck on the bridge, instead of concrete, when it was built more than 50 years ago.

“The bridge’s western end ties into land that is part of a slow-moving landslide,” and officials say they hope to start reconstruction on the bridge by 2010, the paper reported on June 27th.

Commuters from the bedroom community of Alpine and towns south of Jackson in Lincoln County pass over the Snake River Bridge daily. The bridge is a vital link to the economies of both counties.

Recently, the state lowered the speed limit on the bridge from 40 to 25 mph. State transportation officials told the News & Guide last September that the bridge was still safe.

Over 250 other Wyoming bridges reportedly carry the same federal deficiency rating as one that collapsed in Minnesota, but Wyoming transportation officials said the designation is not an accurate indicator of safety.

To see how bridges in your county rate and for more on what officials in the state are doing about it, click here for today’s story in the Casper Star-Tribune

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