Elk Creek bridge project completed early

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Story Published: May 12, 2008 at 10:37 AM PDT

By KPIC Web Staff

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NEAR ELKTON, Ore. - The bridge over Elk Creek at the east end of the Elk Creek tunnel near Elkton should be opened early after the bridge was replace over the weekend.

Highway 38 was closed Friday night and opened at 9 p.m. last night, nine hours before the scheduled opening this morning at 6 a.m.

"So during that time, they will have demolished the old bridge and skidded or slide the new bridge over into where the old bridge was," said Project Manager Steve Vestal.

Vestal said workers used an innovative technique to solve a difficult problem and it was the only way his team could build with the minimum amount of impact

Vestal said most of the time, contractors will build a temporary bridge, but in this case, it wouldn't have been cost effective.

The main goal, he said is to keep people moving on this corridor.

The cost of the entire project, which replaces five bridges between Elkton and Drain, is about 45.6 million dollars.