UPDATE: 15th Street Bridge to Remain Closed For Time Being
The 15th Street bridge will be closed for a little while longer.
Matt Murphy, public relations specialist for the Wyoming Department of Transportation District 1, said WYDOT is still receiving bids for a contractor to create a single-lane configuration on the southbound lane of the bridge.
Murphy said WYDOT will have contractor selection by the end of this week. He said he was unable to give an estimate of when the single lane will open, as it is entirely dependent on the schedule of the contractor.
“After we have selected a contractor, it really just depends on their construction schedule as to when that lane will be opened,” Murphy said.
The contractor will install temporary stoplights at either end of the bridge to direct the flow of traffic through the one-lane configuration. Weight limits will be restricted on the bridge as well.
WYDOT said previously in a press release that repairs to the bridge itself will not be completed until this fall, in part because repairs need to be designed for the bridge and WYDOT needs to investigate the underground structure of the bridge to see if the collision damaged those components.
The 15th Street bridge was damaged on May 21, when a commercial truck left the highway and crashed in to the bridge at 1:05 a.m. The collision caused one of the exterior bridge columns to collapse and compromised the structural integrity of a second column.