Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND – The Culbertson bridge crossing the Big Horn River in Worland will be closed Monday for an annual inspection by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). Bridge inspectors from the department inspect the bridge every two years, and traffic will be diverted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

WYDOT owns and maintains 1,938 structures and bridges in Wyoming, and each of these structures, including the 847 bridges owned and maintained by towns, cities, and counties are subject to inspection every two years by WDOT. Inspection results are submitted to the Federal Highway Administration on an annual basis, according to material provided by WYDOT.

According to the April 2014 inspection of Culbertson bridge, available through the National Bridge Inventory, the 425-foot bridge, built in 1934, scored an overall score of 26.2 and was found "structurally deficient." The structural appraisal lists the bridge as "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action" with an estimated cost of corrective action at $1,964,000.

According to the report, the bridge accounts for 12 percent of total truck traffic over the Big Horn River, with average daily traffic of 1,367 vehicles.