After a year of disarray, repairs to the bridge which carries West Winnemucca Boulevard over I-80 at exit 173 is anticipated to begin in the coming weeks, according to Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) officials.
The repair requires special engineering which was originally approved back in the spring 2022, but due to the complex nature of the repairs needed — known as heat straightening — a specific type of engineer and sub-contractors are required in order to rehab the scraping and slight misalignment of the bottom of the bridge girder, which were reportedly difficult to secure.
Once repairs begin, overnight closures of eastbound traffic on I-80 are set to take place at the West Winnemucca interchange and drivers will be rerouted over the bridge ramps onto the interstate.
The bridge will also likely have to be repainted in spring 2024, which could require similar closures and reduced speeds for safety, according to officials.
NDOT’s Public Information Officer, Meg Ragonese, was able to gather information about the project, but did not have a finalized repair schedule that included an estimated time of when construction will likely wrap up.
NDOT has stated that “Beginning in December through mid-winter, drivers can anticipate overnight closures of eastbound I-80 at the West Winnemucca interchange, with traffic routed over the bridge ramps to continue back onto the interstate. Brief traffic closures may also take place in the spring for repainting of the bridge. Eastbound I-80 drivers should anticipate reduced work zone speed limits and slight travel delays during the bridge repair.”
After an emergency inspection of the damage in December 2022, directly after an incident, officials surmised that the damage was likely the result of a high profile vehicle hitting the bridge, which was unreported. NDOT has assured that the bridge is safe for continued use based on multiple engineering inspections.
As is evident from the slowed traffic and temporary traffic light on the bridge, the bridge has been reduced to one lane of traffic flow since 2022, impacting traffic and business to the Pilot gas station located over the bridge and access to the commercial and residential areas in the Rose Creek area.
The engineer and contractors will be using repair techniques that require targeted heating and cooling to repair the steel within the bridge to its original state.
“An important advantage of heat straightening is that it often allows the damaged sections of steel to be repaired in place, often without the need for extensive bridge closures for repairs,” according to NDOT.
Entities such as the Federal Highway Administration also confirm that the heat straightening process is more rapid than other methods but does require specialized engineers of which there are very few.
While progress on the exit 173 bridge has remained mostly stagnant for the past year while engineering was sought, NDOT has been working to preserve other bridges in Nevada, dedicating approximately $17 million to doing so in the past two years.
According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) analysis of 2022 U.S. Department of Transportation bridge inventory data, around 99 percent of Nevada’s more than 2,000 public bridges are in fair or good condition.
NDOT has also recently approved improvements to the bridges which carry I-80 travelers over Union Pacific Railroad tracks directly west of Winnemucca, resurfacing the bridge deck and making repairs to areas where the bridge and freeway connect.
NDOT officials have also stated that they intend on replacing the entire bridge deck in coming years.