Bixby Bridge Project Costs City More Money, But Gets Job Done Faster On Busy Street

The City of Bixby is paying more for a new bridge, but the mayor says it’s worth it because of an innovative process to make the job go quicker.

The mayor of Bixby says the bridge over Haikey Creek on 131st Street has been out since July but thanks to new bridge-building technology, drivers will be out on the road sooner than if they had used traditional bridge-building methods.

For many people in Bixby, 131st Street is a busy road that's used to get to Broken Arrow. That's why Mayor Brian Guthrie wanted the bridge over Haikey Creek fixed as soon as possible.

"Our businesses, our school traffic, and just our residents as well, including those in South Tulsa and people in Broken Arrow use this road as a major street for connection between Bixby and Broken Arrow," says Guthrie.

He says the bridge project will cost taxpayers about $900,000, around $100,000 more than traditional methods, but will be finished about two months faster.

"Other options may have been cheaper, but we really went with the best option that was the quickest," Guthrie said.

The city went with Premiere Steel Services. They’re faster because they make the steel structure at their Glenpool facility and then put it together on-site.

"Ship it out, put it together, and it's ready to pour, we're probably 75 percent faster than traditional cast-in-place construction," President Andy Vanaman said.

He says they can put a bridge together in a day or two, getting things back to normal quicker for drivers.

"The intangible cost on the businesses, on schools, on the traveling public, by having roads out for a long period of time, those intangible costs are out there."

They've built 27 of these bridges already in Oklahoma and other states. The mayor says this bridge will see traffic in four to six weeks.