western bridge projects get federal funding

Arizona and Colorado will receive up to nearly $27 million in funding from Washington for a series of bridge upgrade and repair projects.

That $27 million is part of a larger $225 million in grant funding coming from the federal Department of Transportation.

The funding, as part of the department’s Competitive Highway Bridge Program, will specifically support a U.S. Route 191 bridge bundling project in Arizona.

That project will see the replacement of two existing bridges and the rehabilitation of four others inside the boundaries of the Navajo Nation in Apache County.

These bridges are used as a primary transportation route by both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Nation.

In Colorado, fourteen existing culverts in the southern and western sections of the state will be replaced using advanced bridge construction technology.

The Colorado projects will more specifically see upgrades to the east-west corridor of U.S. Route 24, as well as Colorado State Highway 9.

Of the 18 states receiving funding for bridge work, seven are located in the West.

In a statement, Nicole Nason, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, said the funded projects “will serve as models for similar bridge projects throughout the nation.”

“They are examples,” Nason added, “of how to achieve time and cost savings through innovation.”

By Garry Boulard

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