Crews installing newer, stronger bridges in Ruidoso

From KOB-Tv.com - Three years after powerful flood waters tore through Ruidoso, the installation of newer, stronger bridges has begun to replace ones that were washed away. Temporary bridges were built to cross the Rio Ruidoso since the massive floods in 2008. Construction crews are half way done with the first of 10 bridges that are slated to be replaced within the village. Crews lowered cement segments, weighing several tons each, into place to create the new Eagle Drive Bridge located in the heart of Mid-Town Ruidoso. The old one was swept away by raging flood waters. "About 14 inches of rain was dropped up on the mountain and came down through this little stream here," said Utilities Director Randall Camp. "It took out 12 of 24 bridges in the village." The million dollar bridge was paid for partially by FEMA and the rest by the state. Camp explained. "A lot of the structures we had were 40, 50 years old and they just weren't designed to handle the types of flows we saw in 2008." Read more

Crews installing newer, stronger bridges in Ruidoso