South Dakota’s most unique bridge opens just in time for Memorial Day weekend

KEYSTONE, S.D. (KEVN) – Keystone’s Wye bridge opened Friday simply earlier than the busy vacation weekend.

Closed for building after final Labor Day, the objective was to reopen the distinctive bridge by Memorial Day.

Work carried out on the bridge included changing 50-year-old bridge decks however with wooden as an alternative of concrete and metal as seen on trendy bridges.

“There are only a few timber buildings left in South Dakota and wherever. We’ve discovered by means of this course of that timber is a really viable building product and to protect the Keystone Wye bridges as timber buildings was necessary to us,” defined Wealthy Zacher, engineer for the Custer space.

Engaged on the well-known bridge all winter did present challenges resulting from climate circumstances, however crews pressed on to fulfill their deadline.

“What I believe is neat about it’s that we took a historic construction and prolonged the life by presumably one other 50 years and within the course of make it look much more historic,” mentioned Zacher.

Zacher defined when the Keystone Wye bridge first opened in 1968 the objective was to create a gateway to the Black Hills and that objective nonetheless stands in the present day.

Copyright 2022 KEVN. All rights reserved.