County bridge upgrades near completion, more to come

Whether it’s farming, forest land maintenance, or building bridges, seasons and the weather are always a driving force behind the timely completion of planned projects.

 That said, during the Monday, Nov. 18 regular weekly Washington County Commissioners meeting, County Road and Bridge Supervisor Jerod Odoms reported one of two upper country bridge replacements is likely to be completed before the end of the year, if not earlier.

 Odoms said Cambridge area residents might think there’s been a slowdown on the progress of the Burton Lane Bridge, but the appearance is due to the required time specifications for the concrete in the project to cure.

 “The cure time is going to be met on schedule, and the girders are on schedule,” Odoms said. “They’re still looking at completion on that sometime in mid-December, unless we have a hiccup somewhere. 

 “That one will stay gravel until springtime, and then they’ll come and patch it back with asphalt,” he added. “The original open date for it was around Thanksgiving, if they met their time frame, but the contract gives them until January. So as long as we stay within the time frame, we’re golden there.”

 On the Dixie Creek Bridge project, which can be seen across the Weiser River from Highway 95 in the canyon between Midvale and Cambridge, Odoms said the current wet weather has brought a delay in the drying of an epoxy sealant.

 “We need dry temperatures to take care of that, so it will probably be delayed until spring,” Odoms said. “They’ll have to come back in and clean that up and do it when the weather dries out. Otherwise the girders are set, the bumpers are being poured, the guardrail install is scheduled in the next couple of weeks, and then the cattle guard will be reinstalled after that. But, they were still pouring some concrete. Everything is on schedule at this point.”

 Odoms said he’s anticipating funding to come through for three other bridges already approved through the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) in FY25, but they may be pushed into FY26. Those bridges are: Reservoir Bridge on Crane Creek Reservoir Road; Beaver Creek, located on Old Highway at Midvale; and Unity Bridge, east of Weiser.

 That same day Odoms garnered permission from the commissioners to move ahead on two more LHTAC funding applications to replace the South Crane Bridge, and one near the Midvale Airport on Sage Creek Road.

 Odoms said there was enough money left over in LHTAC’s bridge funding account to allow for two more applications per agency across the state.

 “The South Crane Road bridge is just north of the fire house out on South Crane,” he said. “It’s narrow and posted for weight, but that is a collector route. Because of the commerce and being a classified roadway system, that was the reason I chose this one. I feel we’ll have a better opportunity to get it funded, especially with those attributes.

 “The Sage Creek Road bridge is also in our new transportation plan,” Odoms said. “We’re seeing some increase there as they improve the airport, plus we have a business there, and the agriculture in the area uses it fairly heavily. It’s a smaller structure, but it is in dire need.”