NewsOK
Published: January 21, 2012
AS much as we chastise government for its wasteful ways, it's nice to know it occasionally has a resourceful side. We welcome the news that steel structures from the old section of the Interstate 40 Crosstown will be put to good use to build as many as 300 county bridges in the state.
Oklahoma last year ranked second, behind Pennsylvania, in the number of bridges at least 20 feet long that were structurally deficient; more than 4,300 county bridges are listed as deficient.
“We think that's a great deal for the taxpayers,” Deputy Transportation Department Director Gary Evans said. “It's a great deal to re-task those beams. It shows how state government and county government can work together.”
Workers will begin tearing apart the elevated Crosstown in a few weeks, once the new Crosstown highway is open in both directions.
Part of the $12.4 million demolition contract calls for salvaging as many as 1,800 of the 1,900 steel beams under the deck of the decrepit highway. Beams deemed safe will be made available at no cost to counties. The beams, generally about 33 inches thick and 50 feet long, will be distributed proportionately to areas that have deficient bridges.
At an estimated value of $8,000 a beam, the state will be able to reuse more than $14 million in beams for which the cost otherwise would have come out of taxpayers' pockets.
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Sat, January 21, 2012
by John Cox