GILLETTE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Transportation and contractor S&S Builders are repairing a bridge on I-90 in Buffalo in September and October.
S&S Builders, LLC has been preparing this past week to repair the bent cap and replace the girder. The contractor will have to temporarily close US 14/16 Sept. 1 to remove the girder. By late September, the contractor will replace the girder and need to have another short-term road closure at that time.
The closures are scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Motorists traveling east on US 14/16 West who want to access US 14/16 East will need to take I-90 East to the Red Hills Road Interchange Exit 63, cross under the interstate and access I-90 West to Exit 58. Westbound traffic from US 14/16 will travel onto I-90 West to Exit 57 onto I-25 to Exit 299 onto Hart Street.
There will be detour signs posted to assist motorists. Motorists are asked to plan their travels accordingly.
The bridge repairs should be done by the end of October.
The repairs follow a July 2021 incident in which a high-profile truck traveling southbound on US 14-16 struck a portion of the I-90 bridge. A portion of the bent cap was broken off and there was severe damage to the outside girder, which is a primary support system of the bridge. While the driving lane of the eastbound lane of I-90 at mile marker 58.65 was closed, inspectors determined the passing lane of the bridge structure was sound. Traffic was therefore detoured to the passing lane.
WYDOT District 4 Sr. Public Relations Specialist Laura Dalles said department engineers had to determine what repairs had to be made and then find the money to pay for them.
“The passing lane of the bridge on I90 was stable so we could operate with the lane closure while we figured that out,” she said.
