Galena Creek Bridge controversy continues

The
bridge is part of a larger, eight mile highway expansion connecting Reno to
Nevada’s capital, Carson City. When
completed, the bridge will span 1,700ft and sit more than 300ft above
Galena Creek, just south of Reno. It
will be the largest of its kind in the world.

The cracks were discovered recently when
workers were testing a series of metal pipes that help support the bridge. The longest fissure is about 30ft long and
has a width of several millimetres at the widest point.

Delays plague project

This discovery is just the latest in a
string of setbacks for the project, which broke ground back in 2003 and was
originally supposed to be finished in 2009.
Contract disputes have contributed significantly to the delays, but the
corridor between Reno and Carson City is also notoriously windy and the weather
has slowed progress substantially. Heavy
traffic along the existing roadway has been a factor, as well.

The first contractor hired by NDOT,
Wisconsin-based Edward Kraemer and Sons, pulled out of the project in 2006 amid
concerns that the bridge was in danger of collapse due to high winds during a
particularly delicate phase of its construction. NDOT rejected those claims but paid the
company $50m anyway for the work they’d already done and hired another
contractor to continue work.

Safety concerns

According to one NDOT official, the cracks
are nothing to worry about.

Still, another bridge currently under
construction as part of the project – the Galena Forest bridge – is now the target
of a federal investigation by the United States Department of Transportation
after a former construction worker claimed he was ordered by his superiors to
do shoddy concrete work on the bridge in order to save money.

Nevada state officials and C.C. Myers, the
California-based contractor on the project, deny the former employee’s claims
and have said they are confident the USDOT’s investigation will uncover no
wrongdoing.

With so much controversy and such serious
allegations circling around the highway expansion project, many Nevada
motorists are growing wary of the new roadway and bridges. They question why the job has taken so long
and why so many safety concerns have yet to be addressed.

Fixing the bridge

NDOT project manager Brad Durski has
reported that the cracks in the Galena Creek Bridge pose absolutely no risk to
drivers, but that workers have made the repairs their top priority.  The bridge will be fortified with reinforced
steel and concrete, and the fractures will be filled with epoxy.  Repairs could cost as much as $900,000.

The Galena Creek Bridge was designed by
NDOT’s own engineers, not an outside contractor, and because the cracks have
nothing to do with materials or workmanship, the state will have to absorb the
cost of repairs.

“No one wants this sort of thing to
happen,” Durski said.  “We just want to get
it fixed and get it done right and keep going.”