The Nebraska Department of Roads has ordered Otoe County to reply to bridge condition reports and close a bridge that was recently re-opened until further inspection.

Glen Steffensmeier, highway superintendent, said a bridge over Muddy Creek south of N Road on 20 Road was closed after it was included on a state critical finding report in November of 2007.

He said the county re-opened the bridge after Lynn Dennison, county bridge foreman, worked on it. The county received a letter from the state on Sept. 17, however, saying the bridge should remain closed pending a load rating analysis.

“All bridges that have been closed must receive satisfactory ratings in a follow-up routine inspection and a satisfactory load rating analysis before they may be re-opened,” said a letter from Steve Andersen, bridge management program manager from the state Department of Roads.

The state’s letter also mentions a critical findings report on a bridge over Wilson Creek near the intersection of roads G and 48, five miles west of Highway 75, and a bridge over the South Branch of the Little Nemaha River on Road 14 near Road Q west of Burr.

The bridge west of Burr was inspected on March 27 and was closed April 4.

After the county receives a critical findings report, it has five days to inform the state what its immediate actions were, including barricades and closings.

The state says it has not received a reply from the county regarding the three bridges. The Wilson Creek bridge was inspected on Aug. 8. The state report indicates that the bridge will remain closed until it is replaced.