Work Starts On Towers For Time Zone Bridge

Workers are erecting four support towers 22 stories high to hold up a new U.S. 95 bridge across the Salmon River north of Riggins.

Located at each corner of the bridge, the 225-foot towers will support the two arches’ steel members as the span is built.

The new $12.4 million structure replaces the 62-year-old Goff Bridge, also known as the Time Zone Bridge because it marks the boundary between Pacific and Mountain time zones.

Last year, the old bridge was moved 65 feet downriver to make way for the new route.

The old bridge now serves as a detour.

The tied-arch bridge will be the only such example in Idaho.

It will run 405 feet long, compared with the old 270-foot-long bridge. It is twice as tall, about 80 feet high, compared with the current 35 feet.

Currently, two semi-tractor trailer trucks cannot pass on the old bridge, which is only 24 feet from curb to curb.

And it has a very low clearance of 14 feet, 5 inches.

The two spans will have a clearance of 22 feet, 6 inches.

Construction is expected to be done by year’s end. The old bridge will be dismantled.