BOUNTIFUL -- The state plans to replace three bridges along Interstate 15 in Davis County -- but officials say the trick will be doing it with as little impact as possible.
At a Utah Transportation Commission meeting last week, Utah Department of Transportation officials said plans are in the works to perform major bridge deck replacements along I-15 at 500 South in Bountiful and 1500 South and 2600 South in Woods Cross.
It will cost approximately $20 million to replace all three of the bridges.
Rex Harris, a project manager in UDOT's Region One, said the three bridges, all within a few miles of each other, likely will impact traffic on I-15, so the department is exploring ways to mitigate that impact.
"We realize that there are a tremendous amount of vehicles driving on I-15 through Davis County," Harris said. "So we're trying to find ways we can avoid impacting traffic too much."
Harris said the state is considering a "design-build" option, where the bridges would be built as they are designed at an off-site location.
Harris also said the bridges don't necessarily have to be built as three separate projects.
"We're hoping we can include all three of the projects together in a package," he said. "It would be nice to put those decks in there with as little impact as possible."
UDOT has spent much of the last 18 months working on improving bridges across the Top of Utah.
In October, Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan area, which consists of Weber, Davis and Morgan Counties, ranked 11th in the nation for the lowest percentage of structurally deficient bridges.
In 2010, the Utah Department of Transportation invested in several new bridges and bridge improvements, many of them in the Top of Utah.
Last summer, UDOT crews set up the centerpiece of the $97 million south Layton interchange project: a bridge that connects the Layton Parkway with Fort Lane on the east side of Interstate 15 and with Flint Street on the west side of the freight and commuter railroad corridor running through Layton.
Last year, UDOT also replaced the U.S. 89 bridge over I-15 in North Salt Lake, as well as bridges at Beck Street, 1000 North and 800 North, as part of the $125 million ExpressLink project in southern Davis County.
In West Haven, UDOT spent $21 million to build a bridge that extends Hinckley Drive nearly a mile from its previous ending point at 1900 West to a new connection at 3600 S. Midland Drive.
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