Load limits on a Fremont County bridge at Texas Creek used to access a popular ATV recreation area have been restored following a series of tests performed Wednesday on a steel truss. The tests conducted by Lamb-Star Engineering of Texas concluded that a blemish on the steel truss was a forge mark and not a crack in the metal. County Engineer Don Moore said that the engineers had to rely on ultrasonic testing and magnetic particle testing to reach a conclusive decision that there was no crack in the metal.The bridge over the Arkansas River, at the junction of Highways 50 and 69, is the only access to a widely used Bureau of Land Management OHV recreation area. Commercial rafting companies use the bridge to access a whitewater rafting takeout on the north side of the river and a local aggregate company uses the bridge to reach a rock quarry.
A routine inspection by a state bridge engineer in early May raised the initial question of a crack in the steel truss. Load limits on the bridge were immediately lowered from 11 tons to 3 1/2 tons. Following Wednesday's engineering tests, the Road and Bridge Department on Thursday removed the warning signs and again posted the bridge for an 11 ton load limit.