By Carolyn Cole/Staff Writer
published Jan. 30, 2008

Almost one-fourth of Oklahoma’s bridges are considered functionally obsolete or structurally deficient, a transportation official told county business leaders.

Thirty-six of those bridges are in Canadian County, and many of them are located along Interstate 40.

Oklahoma leads the nation in the number of bridges needing repairs, David Streb, assistant chief engineer for the state Department of Transportation, said last week. While Oklahoma ranks in the middle for average population, the state has the 12th largest highway system, which he said means it’s a constant battle to find funding to maintain more than 6,600 bridges connecting 12,266 miles.

“We are talking about bridges that are supposed to carry the most volumes, the people and goods,” Streb said. “We are not talking about a very small city street that goes to two houses. We are not talking about a county road that hardly has any vehicles.”

Bridges that are in the worst shape are categorized as structurally deficient, meaning they can no longer carry the weight or traffic they were designed to endure. The worst of these are load-posted bridges, and Canadian County has two — one on state Highway 66 at Purcell Creek between Yukon and El Reno, and another less than a mile north off state Highway 66 on state Highway 4.