3/31/2006
Work to resume on Bear River Bridge; traffic limited to single lane
POCATELLO - Work to rebuild the Bear River Bridge on U.S. 91 north of Preston will resume next week, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. Traffic will be limited to a single lane across the bridge when Phase 2 begins the week of April 3.
Traffic will be controlled by new, temporary signals and occasionally by flaggers. The cycle time of the traffic signals will be about two minutes.
Construction crews will use a 250-ton crane to access all of the remaining bridgework from one side of the river rather than using a smaller crane that would require dismantling and relocation to reach the opposite end of the bridge. Use of the large crane also will enable crews to work on more than one segment at a time.
The northbound (east side) of the bridge was completed last year and will carry alternating traffic while the old, southbound side is demolished and rebuilt this year. Build Inc. of Bountiful, Utah, is the contractor for the $3.1 million bridge project. The new structure should be completed by late this summer.
It replaces a deteriorating, 25-foot wide bridge constructed in 1937.
The new Bear River Bridge will be about 42-feet wide and constructed of pre-stressed girders and concrete. At 237 feet, it also will be considerably longer than its predecessor. The new bridge will still accommodate two lanes of traffic but will provide safer conditions for the commercial and agricultural traffic that frequently travels across the river.