Bridge Across Big Sioux in Baltic Opens

BALTIC, S.D. (AP) — A replacement Highway 114 bridge has opened in Baltic, less than a year after the old span was closed when an inspection revealed it was unsafe.

The circa-1956 bridge across the Big Sioux River in Minnehaha County on the town's west edge had been used by about 1,500 vehicles daily. The timetable on the replacement was speeded up after inspectors deemed the existing bridge piers to be structurally sound.

Ninety-eight-year-old resident Orlando "Eric" Erickson tells KELO television that he remembers spinning out in the middle of the old bridge with a Model-T Ford back in his high school days. He also recalls being stuck on the wrong side of the Big Sioux River during the construction of the bridge the new one replaced.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.