Crews repair cracked part on Arkansas bridge that sagged under heavy bus; span reopens

The Arkansas 187 bridge, located in Beaver just north of Eureka Springs, was reopened Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018.
The Arkansas 187 bridge, located in Beaver just north of Eureka Springs, was reopened Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018.

A Northwest Arkansas bridge was reopened Thursday after engineers repaired a cracked part following an inspection prompted by a video that showed the structure sagging under a crossing bus.

Engineers found a cracked hanger bar Wednesday when they inspected the Arkansas 187 bridge, located in Beaver just north of Eureka Springs, Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle said.

The cast-iron part had to be manufactured and installed before the bridge could reopen, the spokesman said.

"What we found needed to be addressed, but it's not something that's going to keep the bridge out of service for an extended period of time," Straessle said.

The agency announced on social media that the bridge was reopen shortly after 12:30 p.m. "A structural safety inspection reveals the bridge is safe for public use," a tweet states.

The transportation department closed the bridge Tuesday, days after a video surfaced on social media that showed a bus weighing twice the structure's weight limit drive across. The bus shown in the video is one of two that crossed the one-lane bridge, which is restricted to 10 tons.

It was not clear if the part was cracked Saturday when the buses drove across or if it had been previously damaged.

"It’s an old bridge, and we don’t know how many overweight vehicles have traveled over it," Straessle said.

The bridge received three rounds of inspection after the video surfaced earlier this week. Maintenance crews performing scheduled repairs since Oct. 1 re-evaluated the structure Monday and did not find any problems caused by the overweight loads. The crews completed that work Wednesday, Straessle said.

The heavy bridge maintenance team later confirmed the initial finding in its own assessment but said a few items needed a special review by the engineers.

"From what I can tell, the bridge has probably seen worse," Straessle said. "With floods last year, water and debris was pushing up against it, but it has still withstood the test of time."

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