Stuck bridge stymies traffic in Florence
FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) - Rush-hour traffic came to a halt on U.S. Highway 101 near Florence because of a problem with the Siuslaw River Bridge.
The authorities say the bridge was raised at 4:45 p.m. to let a commerical fishing vessel through. Operators, however, could not lower the bridge because of an electrical fire in the control room.
The state Department of Transportation says workers managed to manually lower the north span, but a crew from Charleston had to be called in to fix the south span Friday night.
Transportation officials opened bids this week on a $5.5 million project to renovate and replace the original mechanical and wiring systems that were installed in the bridge when it was built in 1936.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
