Tulsa World
By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 4/5/20112:25 AM
Last Modified: 4/5/20118:01 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY - A month after state officials opened all lanes of the Inner Dispersal Loop, commissioners with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation voted to resume work on the loop's north and west legs.
In late February, department officials removed traffic barriers blocking the eastbound lanes of the loop's north leg. The opening effectively ended the $75 million road and bridge paving project, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the so-called stimulus fund.
On Monday, commissioners awarded $8.9 million to V.H.P. Enterprises of Florida to continue work on the Inner Dispersal Loop. The project calls for the contractors to paint and rehabilitate the substructure of the 40-plus IDL bridges that had recently been paved.
"It's basically a phase two," said Randle White, ODOT's division engineer for the Tulsa County area.
White said workers would scrape the paint and rust off of the bridges' substructure and add support to the beams where needed.
Work could start in 60 days. It will not affect the new bridge decks that crews laid during the main IDL project.
White compared the two-phase project to replacing the roof of a house. A homeowner's main concern is to place shingles on the roof to stop water from leaking into the house. Once the shingles are in place, work can begin on the interior... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Tue, April 5, 2011
by John Cox