WYDOT planning night closure of Ranchester Bridge – Public Meeting to be held

Sheridan, Wyo – The Wyoming Department of Transportation and the Prime Contractor, will be closing the existing bridge of the current bridge project located just east of the town of Ranchester on US 14.  The bridge will be closed to all traffic for three nights in early May to offload and place steel girders onto the new bridge structure.

The exact dates are yet to be determined as the Contractor is waiting for delivery of the girders. Once the girders are received, the dates will be announced – likely within the first two weeks of May. These three night closures will be from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. 

A public meeting is being held on Thursday, April 28 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Tongue River Valley Community Center in Ranchester.  Residents of the Ranchester and Dayton communities and local commuters are encouraged to attend to get more information about this closure.

These girders measure approximately seven feet in height by six to one hundred twenty feet in length and weigh up to 25 ton each.  It was determined that due to the nature of the location of the bridge structure and the railroad tracks, offloading and placing the girders from the ground would be less efficient and potentially create safety concerns.  The project area is quite tight and does not allow for the accommodation of the larger crane and equipment needed to offload and place the girders without closing the existing bridge.

Detours have been identified for commercial and local traffic and to accommodate all emergency management vehicles.  Local traffic will be asked to utilize WYO 345 and Railroad Street in Ranchester, while commercial traffic will be detoured onto WYO 345 – Parkman Road to the Dayton cut-off - WYO 343 just east of the Town of Dayton.  

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