This came at 3:15 P.M. from TexDot. As soon as more information is receive, it will be sent immediately:
I apologize for the information failure on the FM 2268 bridge closure.I talked to the project manager today and I hope I have this right (it's kind of complex) - he explained to me that after the first round of collision and rain damage was fixed (I think the road re-opened for a short time over a weekend), they went back to work on the area (it's a place where permanent and temporary structures come together). While they had the temporary part opened up for the work, they got down to a point where a big boulder sat on clay soil at the bottom of a bunch of fill rock. That’s when the storms hit and washed out the clay, which brought down a bunch of the rock fill and dug out the base from under the westbound roadway surface about 4-6 feet in on the approach.They brought the bridge engineers up from Austin to examine it and give them a plan/design for the repair. The bridge engineers recommended that the bridge be closed to prevent vibrations from making the situation worse. That’s why it’s closed now, and they are estimating two weeks to get the repair design in hand and finish the repair. They forgot to let me know when the second part happened, which is why the communications breakdown occurred.I’ve asked him to see if there’s any way half the bridge could be opened up to let traffic get to southbound I-35 across it, and he’s checking with the bridge guys to see if they think that could be done safely. If they can, they’ll open one lane (which will be discussed with the city, but whichever way traffic is allowed to go, it would have to be on the one that's normally the eastbound lane, since the damage is under the westbound side).As soon as I know more about a partial opening of the bridge, I’ll get the word out –Sorry it’s not better news, but maybe we can get some access across the bridge temporarily.Jodi WheatleyI-35 Information OfficerTxDOT/Waco District254-867-2836
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