Clerical error stalls Barnitz Creek bridge

Custer County commissioners gave partial approval Monday for another new bridge in the county – this one across Barnitz Creek where Arapaho Road crosses it five miles west of U.S. Highway 183.
Only partial approval was given because Commissioner Lyle Miller, the newly elected chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said one of two Oklahoma Department of Transportation documents needed for approval had the bridge in District 3 instead of District 1 where it will actually be built.
Miller represents District 3. He said the first document that commissioners looked at and approved did not say in which district the new bridge would be located. But a couple of minutes later when commissioners looked at the second document, Miller noted that it said District 3 when in reality it should have said District 1.
Wade Anders, who represents District 1, was attending a family funeral Monday in Purcell so he could not comment on it. However, Miller was certain the document should have read District 1.
“I won’t accept that,” he told County Clerk Melissa Parker. “Send it back to them.”
He also looked again at the document he and District 2 Commissioner Kurt Hamburger had previously approved. “I don’t see anything that splits it by county districts,” he said, adding, “But I’m not comfortable with that one (the one showing it in District 3). That’s definitely Wade’s district.”
The new bridge should be a nice one. Miller said it would be 100 feet long compared to 61 feet for the one it will be replacing. He also said it will have a load limit more than seven times that of the old one – 50 tons versus 7 tons.
Federal funds funneled through ODOT are being used to pay 80 percent of the bridge’s cost. The other 20 percent will come from state funds appropriated to the County Improvement for Roads and Bridges Fund, commonly referred to as CIRB.
Miller said the new bridge is scheduled for construction in 2019, although some other county CIRB projects planned for construction in the year just ended were delayed because of the State of Oklahoma’s budgetary problems.
The northern part of Custer County is home to two Barnitz Creeks – East Barnitz and West Barnitz. They come together a short distance north of where the new bridge is to be built, and from there south until they empty into the Washita River the unified stream is known simply as Barnitz Creek.
Officials present Monday said the new bridge is going to be so much bigger than the old one it’s replacing because vehicles and equipment have grown so much in size since the old one was constructed.
Miller said a semi loaded with rocks like the commissioners need to keep county roads in good shape weighs approximately 80,000 pounds.
Extension Director Ron Wright said a self-propelled John Deere S670 combine which is commonly used to cut wheat these days weighs 36,114 pounds, and that doesn’t include the header on it.
Oilfield trucks that ferry loads back and forth on county roads likewise carry a lot of weight.
The new bridge that received partial approval Monday is one of three planned the next few years on Barnitz Creek and its two major tributaries. Miller said one is planned on West Barnitz in his district about eight miles north of Butler.
Presently, he has a new bridge under construction on Quartermaster Creek. Hamburger said he has one scheduled to start work this year, “if there’s any money left,” on Little Deer Creek west of Thomas.