Bridge work begins again near DeKalb

Major flooding has delayed the project, prompted a redesign

In this file photo, the Red River is flooded Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, north of DeKalb, Texas.
In this file photo, the Red River is flooded Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, north of DeKalb, Texas.

Texas Department of Transportation resumes work today on replacing the U.S. Highway 259 bridge over the Red River north of DeKalb.

The project, which began in December 2014, was delayed several months because of repeated record flooding, said Marcus Sandifer, TxDOT Atlanta District spokesman.

The major flooding that occurred in 2015 has caused the channel of the river to wash out wider and deeper and to migrate more toward the Texas side. These circumstances forced TxDOT officials to take another look at the bridge design.

"The project started, and then we had a flood that spring right after they started working on it. The flow of the river changed the channel a lot, so we had to redesign the bridge," Sandifer said.

In 2015, the Red River underwent two floods back to back in the spring, another in November and another right before Christmas.

The bridge and sections of U.S. 259 were shut down numerous times during the flooding. The highway is a commonly used route between DeKalb and Idabel, Okla.

"It was determined there was a need to modify the foundation design to accommodate any future channel migration and flood events," Sandifer said.

Corrective measures, including removal of some of the previously constructed foundations, will begin today.

Austin Bridge and Road is the contractor with an initial bid of $12.1 million. The additional work is expected to cost another $2.5 million, and the completion date is now estimated to be during the summer of 2018.

Traffic will continue on the old bridge while the new bridge is constructed.

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