Construction coming up on downtown Bonners Ferry bridges

May 22, 2014

Construction upgrades on the Kootenai River Bridge on U.S. Highway 95 in Bonners Ferry will begin soon, leading to periodic lane closures, traffic shifts, and even closure of the Main Street bridge approach during part of the construction period. The Arizona Street Bridge (the highway bridge that crosses over the railroad tracks near the Kootenai River Inn) will also see construction during the same time frame, also with temporary lane and traffic re-routing. The Idaho Transportation Department announced that crews will begin upgrades to these two bridges on Monday, June 16. The work is expected to last through the summer, until the first part of September. The northbound lanes will be closed for the first part of the work, with all traffic on both bridges routed onto the two southbound lanes. When the northbound lanes are completed, traffic will be shifted to those two newly-completed lanes while the southband lanes are upgraded. Plans are for both bridge decks to be upgraded. The Kootenai River Bridge will receive an epoxy overlay to provide an impermeable seal, while the Arizona Street bridge deck will be resurfaced and sealed with a silica fume concrete. That's not all. Additional work will also be done on both bridges. The joints on each end of the Kootenai River bridge where the bridge deck meets the highway will be modified to eliminate bumps one experiences when driving onto the bridge deck. On the Arizona Street Bridge, the bridge guardrails and the steel girders underneath the bridge will be repainted. During the construction period, a 10-foot width restriction will be in place for oversized loads during the traffic shift. Vehicle lengths will be limited to normal, non-permitted legal lengths. Braun-Jensen Inc., of Payette, Idaho, is the contractor on the $2.1 million project to rehabilitate these two Bonners Ferry bridges. Similar projects are being performed on bridges throughout Idaho. According to the Idaho Transportation Department, this work will extend the lives of the Arizona Street Bridge, originally constructed in 1972, and the Kootenai River Bridge, built in 1984.