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Transportation
Oklahoma To Rebuild Barge-Battered I-40 Bridge
(enr.com
- 6/17/02 issue)
By Tony
Illia
Oklahoma is wasting little time in trying
to restore its barge-battered Interstate 40 bridge over the
Arkansas River, where 20,000 vehicles have been rerouted to
a crossing 20 miles away. Demolition continued as state officials
unveiled more details of the planned repair contract.
A dangling 380-ton bridge section should be completely gone
by July 12, says Bruce Taylor, Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation
chief engineer. Demolition contractor Jensen Construction
Co., Des Moines, is busy removing the 25-ft-long, 64-ft-wide
chunk.
Jensen is working under a cost-plus contract for the section
and $850,000 for the remaining demolition. Terms call for
$50,000-a-day penalties after 16 working days and incentives
for early completion.
Once demolition is done, the 64-day repair contract can
begin. ODOT revealed plans prepared by designer Poe &
Associates Inc., Oklahoma City, for a job that would cost
about $10 million and is scheduled to be let June 12. The
project has an aggressive 1,553-hour schedule with $6,000-an-hour
early completion bonuses and $6,000-an-hour late fines.
Other developments also cleared the way for the repair work.
On June 4, the Federal Highway Administration committed an
initial $3 million in emergency relief funds to help with
I-40's reconstruction. And the estate of a family killed in
the collapse failed in its attempt to slow the demolition
but won the right to examine the debris and rubble as it emerges.
James, Misty and Shae Johnson all died on May 26 when the
barge struck the pier, causing the 500-ft bridge section to
collapse. The Shae estate’s attorney says the debris
is evidence.
State Attorney General Drew Edmondson has since filed suit
against tugboat captain Joe Dedmon, and his employer Magnolia
Marine Transport Co., a subsidiary of Jackson, Miss.-based
Ergon Inc., for negligence. At 7:43 a.m. on the morning of
the May 27 accident, Dedmon apparently blacked out, causing
two attached barges to drift outside the navigation channel
and hit the bridge (ENR 6/3 p. 11). A National Transportation
Safety Board investigation found that Dedmon had slept too
few hours in the two days prior to the collision.
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