Bridge Repairs Underway

It was another day of repairs yesterday on the Pat O’ Hara Creek bridge on the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

The Pat O’ Hara Creek bridge is located north of Cody, just hundreds of feet off Wyoming 120. It was built in the 1960s, but extreme erosion, caused by a large rain event on May 26, washed the rock riprap away from the bridge piers. The erosion forced the Wyoming Department of Transportation to load-limit the bridge at 13 tons until repairs could be completed.

WYDOT workers launched repairs Monday, and Wyoming Department of Transportation district maintenance engineer Lyle Lamb of Basin says they are hoping to complete the repairs this week and remove the 13-ton weight limit. Those repairs should keep the highway open to bigger trucks and tour buses until a more-permanent repair project happens in the future.

WYDOT geologists were working in the Cody area through Tuesday morning, assessing bridges, rockfall sites and other areas near Cody impacted by last week’s rains, mud slides and rock slides.