Repairs To Bridge Should End Today

Idaho Transportation Department officials hope to complete repairs today on the U.S. Highway 95 bridge over the Little Salmon River, allowing it to carry traffic for the first time since it was heavily damaged by flooding three weeks ago.

The final two of four massive concrete girders were put in place on the bridge Sunday.

“We are right where we thought we’d be. It should be right about in line for Wednesday,” District II Engineer Jim Carpenter said.

Other state crews have been patching areas where the Little Salmon chewed away the roadbed during flooding that began shortly before the new year. Paving on the damaged areas will begin later this week, Carpenter said.

Motorists who have ventured through the 12-mile stretch of damaged highway from the southern edge of the Little Salmon River canyon to the bridge have encountered delays mostly of less than an hour. The trek through the damaged section usually takes about 45 minutes, depending on the number of vehicles and whether any heavy trucks are included in the convoys, which are led by pilot cars.

If the weather allows the paving to proceed on schedule, the pilot cars may disappear as soon as Saturday, Carpenter said.

The work on Highway 95 in the area will continue, however. Officials hope to award the contract to replace riprap, the boulders that armor the roadbed from floodwaters, this week.