By James Beaty
Pittsburg County commissioners have awarded a bid to repair the damaged Coal Creek Bridge between McAlester and Tannehill.
Commissioners awarded the bid to Gibson and Associates, Inc. of Balch Springs, Texas. Gibson submitted a bid of $31,900.
Next, the county commissioners plan to hold a special meeting in the commissioners’ office at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to sign the contract.
“We stipulated in the contract that they have 15 days to complete the project” after the document is signed, said District 3 Commissioner Donald Mathis.
“We’re hoping they start after the Fourth of July, or immediately after signing the contract,” Mathis said. It will be up to the company, as long as the project is completed in the required 15 days, he said.
Plans call for Gibson and Associates to repair a cracked support beam and damaged guard rails on the bridge.
The structure originally had a 22-ton weight limit, but the county commissioners set the lower three-ton weight limit earlier this year in the wake of damage to the structure.
After the work is completed, an engineer will conduct an evaluation to see how much weight the newly-repaired bridge should support, according to Mathis.
He said there’s no way of knowing at this point what the decision will be.
“We’re hoping to get it back to at least 15 tons, so the school buses can get back on it,” Mathis said.
In addition to the reduced weight limit, the bridge had been temporarily closed to all traffic in early June.
On the recommendation of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, crews had performed emergency repairs to the bridge by putting an 11-foot section of beam in place to shore up the structure.
That made it possible to reopen the bridge to light traffic after it had been closed for several days.
Although the three-ton limit remains in place, local residents say the lower limit has been violated numerous times by heavy truck traffic in the area.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.
