Galena Forest Bridge

I was in Reno yesterday, so I detoured a little bit to see if I could find the Galena Forest Bridge, the bridge along I-580 that has been accused of having shoddy materials used in its construction. This bridge is set a little ways in the backcountry, where there are currently no roads. It’s close to Hwy 431, though, and it is visible from populated areas, although it’s hard to get close enough to take good pictures of it. Here are the best I could get, although probably if you got out of the car and hiked for a bit you could see it better.

This is the second-longest bridge on the I-580 project, but not nearly as impressive as the Galena Creek Bridge a few miles south. It looks like it’s quite steep too, as the freeway climbs up to get to the elevation needed to get over the hills.

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  1. Happy New Year and I hope a Happy New Highway! When I first viewed this construction project I was surprised to see such an elevation to it. I?m sure there is a very logical reason for it but I have to wonder how the winter travel is going to be on it. The road surface is almost in a different ?climate zone?. It will receive more snow accumulation than the present elevation, which likely was considered, but it has very high degrees of changes over long distances. Steep hills as you mentioned! I wonder if the state will close the highway more often. I also wonder if wind tests at that elevation will prove to be as dangerous as the Washoe Valley stretch. I?m not an engineer. I just lived near the most expensive construction project in this nation. ?The Big Dig? in Boston. The tunnel ceiling fell in after completion on vehicles using the road. It was closed for repairs. Nevada DOT should keep a VERY close inspection schedule on this project.

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