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A sign on the 17th Street bridge alerts motorists that the span will close early next week for a maintenance project. It is expected to remain fully shut down into August, when lanes will start to reopen.

Crews will close the 17th Street bridge between Webster and Franklin avenues next week for work expected to keep the stretch shut down into August.

At least one lane has remained closed on the span since a warehouse below it burned down in October 2019.

For decades travelers crossing the bridge could catch aromas emanating from a Mrs Baird’s Bread bakery nearby.

But the bakery was long gone when another smell, and a huge blaze, roiled that area of 17th Street. A disused Langford Distribution warehouse burned to the ground, scorching the overpass built in 1961 hovering above it.

The 17th Street bridge needed an overhaul before the blaze burned the final straw. It will close next week, probably on Wednesday, and stay that way into August, city engineering manager Steve Martin said. After that, crews will keep at least one lane open through the project’s completion in October. Repairs include giving the viaduct a new concrete overlay.

Gibson & Associates Inc., from Balch Springs, will serve as general contractor, having submitted a $1.27 million winning bid.

Martin said the four-lane viaduct has endured a beating, accommodating an estimated 16,000 vehicles daily for about 60 years. Crews will replace elastomeric bearing pads that sit between the bridge beams and their supports. That task is scheduled first and will require workers to employ multiple hydraulic jacks to lift the bridge about an inch, Martin said.

Bearing pads work with bridge joints to prevent damage when the bridge expands and contracts as temperatures change, he said. The overpass also suffers from concrete spalling, a breakdown due to natural weather conditions or chemical reactions, that causes cement to flake away.

“We had excessive wear on the bridge deck, which is what you drive on,” Martin said. “There were holes we had identified before the burn, some so severe that rebar was exposed. We had placed the bridge on our repair list.”

Months before the fire in October 2019, the city learned of minor issues with the structure through a federal inspection program. The city took bids to address fire damage and wear and tear discovered before the blaze.

Flaws discovered by inspectors did not urgently need attention, Public Works Director Amy Burlarley-Hyland has said previously.

“Once we had the fire, we decided it would be smarter to address all of the issues we had, large and small, under that bridge.” Burlarley-Hyland said at the time.

Curt Caldwell, who is serving as project director on the 17th Street project, said the city next week will implement a detour plan.

The detour will direct motorists on 17th Street, which carries one-way traffic at the bridge, to turn right onto Webster Avenue, then left onto 11th Street, which takes them to Waco Drive.

“That takes you on a signalized route,” Caldwell said.

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Mike Copeland is a Waco native who attended Baylor University and joined the Tribune-Herald in 1978. He's been covering local business since 1992.

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A sign on the 17th Street bridge alerts motorists that the span will close early next week for a maintenance project. It is expected to remain fully shut down into August, when lanes will start to reopen.

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