Follow Us 
Current Poll
| Bull Creek Bridge Project Much Like A Ladder |
 |
 |
 |
| News - Miami County News | |||
| Written by Robin Hixson | |||
| Wednesday, 22 April 2009 08:00 | |||
|
Asked why the upcoming Bull Creek bridge closing couldn’t be avoided by rebuilding the bridge one lane at a time, BWR engineer Keith Wetter answered by comparing the bridge to a ladder. “If you take the rail off of one side of the ladder and lay it across a ditch, you wouldn’t make it across because it couldn’t support you,” he said. Wetter admits that illustration first came from Miami County Engineer Penny Evans, but he said it’s the best way he can think of to help people understand why the one-lane-at-a-time idea wouldn’t be a safe way to go. During a Thursday afternoon public meeting, Evans, Wetter and 11 others representing BWR Engineering, the Paola Chamber of Commerce, Miami County, the city of Paola and the Kansas Department of Transportation answered citizens’ questions about the upcoming bridge renovation project using maps, design drawings and photographs as visual aids. On May 11, the bridge will be closed for a year-long, $1.731 million renovation project during which King Construction Co. will strip the decks down to the tops of the supporting arches, then replace the deteriorated expansion joints and rebuild the decks with an additional two feet in width on each side. The project offers a less expensive remedy than building an entirely new bridge, and BWR Vice President Steven Hileman said it will extend the bridge’s useful life another 50 years. Built back in the 1930s, the Bull Creek bridge on Old Kansas City Road in south Paola was designed to carry smaller, narrower and lighter vehicles than those that now travel across it at about 5,000 a day. Plans to remedy problems with the slowly deteriorating bridge have been in the works for several years and, in that time, Evans explored a number of suggested options. She knew early on the one-lane-at-a-time idea was not feasible. Another suggestion has been the idea of building a new bridge next to the current one, switching traffic over, and then renovating the old one. That option would eliminate having to designate a circuitous detour route, but the expense would be considerably higher, and Evans said a city official told her several years ago the road wouldn’t likely be widened to four lanes in the foreseeable future. Ultimately, Evans said, a “sister bridge” project just wouldn’t have been the optimal choice. Altogether, she said, about 50 people attended the public meeting, with about 37 signing the attendance log. A number of those attending filled out comment sheets, which the Miami County Commission will review during its study session today.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 1100 Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
