Highways

12/11/12

HONOLULU — The state Department of Transportation (DOT) is pleased to announce that structural work on the Karsten Thot Bridge in Wahiawa will be finished this afternoon.

Since October 19, the bridge has been open to traffic with reduced speeds and traffic control measures in place while crews continued work underneath the structure.  Repairs included the removal and replacement of 4,000 rivets with steel bolts and the replacement of 3,400 pounds of gusset plates under the bridge.  Load limits for the bridge have been returned to the previous 22-ton limit.

Within the next year, additional work to complete anti-corrosive metal coating of the top of the bridge structure will be done. This work is anticipated to take place primarily during off-peak traffic times, such as at night or on weekends. While not considered part of this emergency work, this type of painting is important to the integrity and life of the steel structure.

The DOT would like to thank the public for their patience as these repairs were made.  We would also like to thank the Honolulu Police Department and the area military installations for their help in mitigating traffic issues during this time.

New steel plates were installed during repair work beneath the bridge deck to provide additional structural reinforcement. Approximately 4,000 rivets were removed and replaced with steel bolts.