Bridge on SH 90 at Bedrock Opens to Foot Traffic Thursday Night; Vehicle Traffic (with Restrictions) Possible Over the Weekend

September 19, 2014 - Southwestern Colorado/CDOT Region 5 - MONTROSE COUNTY – Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) crews welded the separated vertical truss Thursday afternoon and foot traffic was allowed across the SH 90 bridge at Bedrock after 7 p.m.

Today, the newly fabricated steel splices—about ¼ inch think, 8 inches wide and 4 feet long—will be bolted to either side of the welded area. Once this splicing is completed—possibly over the weekend, if all goes well--vehicles (with some weight restrictions likely) will be allowed to cross the bridge. (PLEASE CONTINUE TO CHECK WWW.COTRIP.ORG FOR UPDATES ON THIS TRAVEL STATUS.)

CDOT’s structural engineers are designing a permanent fix, which will be detailed as soon as that is complete.

Please watch for another press release on Friday afternoon; and information will also be posted on www.cotrip.org.

BRIDGE INFORMATION - The 1952 steel through-truss bridge underwent routine inspection (typically every two years for older bridges) in December 2013, with no damage identified. Upon a site visit yesterday, September 15, a CDOT engineer discovered a crack on one of the structure’s vertical truss members (see photo).

HOW TO GET UPDATES: The best way to stay up-to-date on project progress, traffic impacts and more is to sign up for email and wireless (text) alerts. Go to CDOT's web site at www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cell phone icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Enter your information and choose the section of the state (southwest) for which you would like to receive information. Also, scheduled lane closures for CDOT projects can be found on our web site at http://www.coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html; and finally, any highway closures are also listed on our traveler information site at www.cotrip.org (see Travel Alerts and Road Work Alerts).