N. Dakota DOT opens first half of new Lewis and Clark Bridge on U.S. 85

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Updated Oct 5, 2017
A web cam shot by the North Dakota Department of Transportation of the newly opened two lanes of the Lewis and Clark Bridge.A web cam shot by the North Dakota Department of Transportation of the newly opened two lanes of the Lewis and Clark Bridge.

The new Lewis and Clark Bridge on U.S. 85 near Williston, North Dakota, is now open for traffic, but only two of its four lanes.

The full bridge will open after the old bridge is dismantled and the final phases of the project are completed. The $80 million bridge project – the single largest infrastructure project bid in the history of the North Dakota Department of Transportation – is part of a widening of 60 miles of U.S. 85 between Watford City and Williston to four lanes.

The project includes tearing down the old bridge, built in 1973, adding lighting and rebuilding the road leading to the bridge. It will also include a wildlife crossing for moose south of the bridge – the first of its kind for North Dakota.

The steel-girder bridge will eventually have four lanes and handle wider trucks than the old bridge. Johnson Bros. Construction of Texas is the prime contractor.