U.S. 101 bridge repair work expected to start in late September

We expect repair work to start in late September on the Necarney Creek Bridge on U.S. 101 four miles north of Manzanita in Oswald West State Park. We will continue to flag traffic through one lane until repairs are completed, and we don’t have an estimate yet of when the work will be done.

For the rest of September and for sometime into October, please plan extra time into you trip on U.S. 101 between the Seaside and Cannon Beach areas to the north of Oswald West State Park and the Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler areas to the south. Before hitting the road anywhere in Oregon, visit Tripcheck.com for current highway travel conditions.

We need to repair a section of concrete guardrail and sidewalk that collapsed on the northbound side of the bridge sometime Aug. 29. The steel guardrail, added in 2008 to improve safety, also was severely damaged.

We closed the bridge for about two hours Aug. 29 so that we could inspect the structure. We found it was safe to open one lane to traffic until repairs are finished.

We suspect that a vehicle struck the bridge sometime Aug. 29, but no one reported any incident to us or law enforcement. Anyone who may have witnessed a vehicle colliding with guardrail on U.S. 101 in Oswald West State Park, please contact Lt. Andy Hasenkamp at Oregon State Police Astoria Area Command at 503-318-9917.

Background

The Necarney Creek Bridge was built in 1937, and the concrete section that collapsed is a part of the original concrete sidewalk and guardrail. We installed the modern tubular guardrail along the concrete guardrail in 2008 to increase protection for vehicles.

A Tillamook resident alerted ODOT to the damage at about 4 p.m. Aug. 29 after crossing the bridge. We alerted staff at Oswald West State Park, and they contacted Manzanita Police Department. The police closed the lane of traffic next to the collapsed section immediately.

By 4:30 p.m., we asked the police and Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office to close the bridge fully as a precaution until we could inspect it.

Because we inspect bridges regularly, we had an inspector on the coast who was able to visit the bridge and reopen one lane within about two hours. The northbound lane in the damaged section is unsafe for vehicles because of the abrupt edge and severely damaged guardrail.