Bridgeport Pony Bridge Project Enters the Home Stretch

by Richard Stephens, Jr.

Trusses re-installed – check. Approach slabs poured – check.

February has been a productive month at the Bridgeport Bridge, which straddles the South Canadian River between Canadian and Caddo counties. Zackary Holt, ODOT’s on-site project engineer, estimated 90% of the 19-month long rehabilitation is complete, allowing reopening in May.

Oklahoma Bridge Company (OBC) attached the last (76th) truss on Feb 5, twenty-five days after the first two were re-installed. The original plan was to install four trusses per day. Instead, OBC crews were adding ten trusses a day towards the end. This was accomplished by working fourteen-and-one-half hour days in between the cold and the rain.

Concrete for an approach slab is poured on the south end of Bridgeport Bridge on Feb 21, 2024.

Stuart Morgen, OBC Assistant Site Manager, said his team, “Got the groove down. Once you get the steps down, they got efficient. Teamwork is essential and having good camaraderie and keeping up [the] spirits of the guys.”

What remains to be done? Minor work includes painting small areas of bare metal on the trusses, adding traffic rails to the southern and northern approach slabs, and bolting all traffic rails to the bridge deck the entire length of the 3,944-foot span. Major work is needed to construct a visitor parking lot on the northeast end (which will take six to eight weeks) and paving the south and north ends of the bridge to the existing Route 281 (Route 66) using concrete.

Holt considers himself fortunate to have supervised the entire project since the bridge closed on October 31, 2022. ODOT assigns an on-site project engineer to provide direction, continuity, and quality control for each stage of rehabilitation. “I’m lucky to have a good background of experiences…a wide variety of jobs, different types of projects,” he said. How many projects involved bridges? “I’ve probably been on eight or nine bridge projects from completely new or a rehabilitation.”

When asked how this project has been different from the others, Holt replied, “It’s been really involved: historical groups, federal groups - how to manage all those - while managing the schedule to keep the bridge completion on track.” His first-time challenges included using special types of concrete for the deck panels and rehabilitating/restoring the “pony” trusses. A lot of research was necessary. Holt graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in civil engineering and has worked for ODOT since June 2015.

An example of ODOT’s quality control measures was when Holt put samples of contractor-mixed concrete in tubes and had a laboratory perform strength testing in the summer of 2023. Jose Lopez, an ODOT bridge and highway inspector, watched OBC crews pour concrete for the approach slabs on Feb 21. He said, “We check it’s the right material, the right product for the tasks they are working on.”

Contractors check each other’s work as well. JK Industries was hired to restore the trusses (blast clean them, add three coats of protectant). Tetra Tech inspected their work. The entire project has progressed smoothly without any significant injuries.

The bridge’s official name is the William H. Murray bridge after Oklahoma’s 9th Governor, but many people simply call it the “Pony Bridge.” Why is that? According to the Historic Bridge Foundation’s online website, “With a pony bridge, the superstructure is above and beside the roadway, but no overhead bracing is present. The term ‘pony’ is normally only used when describing truss bridges…”

The Pony Bridge will be ready to ride in May. Stay tuned to the Oklahoma Route 66 Association for more information about a reopening celebration!

The Bridgeport Bridge's refurbished trusses were reinstalled from Jan 11 to Feb 21, 2024.