Acrow, an international bridge engineering and supply company, said one of its modular steel bridges was recently installed in rural Cibola County, N.M., to replace a structure destroyed during heavy rains.
Because the bridge provides the only reliable access to a small community, re-establishing a safe route for residents, public school transport and emergency services was a priority.
Cibola County, located in the mountainous Colorado Plateau region of New Mexico, was experiencing a period of extreme drought when a particularly intense rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems and collapsed a concrete culvert bridge over the Seboyeta Creek on County Road 5 in the village of Moquino.
After the United States Army Corps of Engineers notified Acrow about the collapse, Acrow personnel traveled to the site to assess the situation, offering the modular steel 700XS bridge to Cibola County as a cost-effective permanent solution.
Acrow's panel bridge was bought by the county and components of the structure arrived at the remote site in late October 2024, with assembly and installation completed by project contractor Compass Engineering & Construction Services LLC.
The bridge is 80 ft. long and has a roadway width of 30 ft. to accommodate two lanes of traffic. It was designed to AASHTO HL-93 loading and was supplied with an epoxy-aggregate anti-skid deck and a TL-4 guardrail system.
After assembly, which was completed within a week, the bridge was installed with a crane-assisted launch. Once the approaches and other ancillary construction activities were completed, the bridge was inspected and opened to traffic.
Acrow's modular steel bridges are hot-dip galvanized to protect against corrosion and offer a long service life with minimal maintenance, making them a dependable choice for proactive planning for future events.
"As extreme climate events increase in frequency, Acrow's modular bridges can enable the restoration of critical bridge infrastructure quickly, safely and efficiently," said Dan Schrager, business development manager — Southwest Region.
For details, visit acrow.com.
