1/16/2008
Salem Bridge between Rexburg and St. Anthony to open Friday
RIGBY - The Salem Bridge on the Parker‑Salem Highway between Rexburg and St. Anthony will open Friday (Jan. 18), the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) announced.
Crews are finalizing construction and cleanup in preparation for opening the bridge Friday at 8 a.m. Structural work and road approaches are complete, with bridge surfaces, road markings and shoulder seeding to be finished in the spring.
The new all‑concrete bridge is 205 feet long and 42 feet wide, with steel‑reinforced substructure, superstructure and deck. The Parker‑Salem Highway, which is 1900 East in Fremont County, has been closed since May 4, 2007. It is a major farm‑to‑market and commuter road, and a familiar route for motorists traveling to the popular St. Anthony Sand Dunes.
The general contractor for the $4.23 million project was Cannon Builders of Blackfoot. Cannon removed the old bridge, constructed the new one and reconstructed the roadway on both ends of the bridge from county road 200 North to approximately county road 350 North (milepost 5 to 6.5).
The new bridge is a wide two‑lane structure, about 20 feet longer than the old bridge, which was built in 1953. The old bridge stood on wooden pillars that water sometimes washed beneath.
In 2005, Jorgensen Associates PC, of Jackson, Wyo., rated the sufficiency of the bridge at 42.8 out of 100. The bottom of the new bridge is 2.5 feet higher than the old one, and approaches to it are about 5 feet higher than previous approaches. These increased elevations are intended to mitigate flooding around the bridge from ice buildup in the Henrys Fork of the Snake River below the bridge.
Sponsored by Fremont County, the project was administered by ITD using federal and county funds of 92.66 and 7.34 percent, respectively. The Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) in Boise administered project design performed by Forsgren Associates Inc. of Boise.
According to Fremont County Public Works Director Marla Vik, who oversaw detour arrangements, road and bridge personnel counted up to 1,400 vehicles per day of traffic on the Parker‑Salem Highway during summer months in 2005 and 2006.