Federal inspectors have ordered Marion County to shut down traffic over two bridges in what is expected to be just the first wave of closures.
County Engineer Jeff Dungan told the Marion County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that 26 of the county’s 53 wood-piling bridges were slated to be inspected before the end of the year with the rest being done next year.
“On Thursday or Friday, I got four emails from State Aid where they recommended immediate closure of the northern-most bridge on Williamsburg Road, Albert Rayburn Road and then we got a notice to repost Mt. Gilead Road to five tons and we’ve got a one-lane closure on Ebenezer Road,” Dungan said.
In an ironic twist, the bridge on Williamsburg Road, along with another on that same road that is also at risk of being closed, were scheduled to be replaced two years ago using federal funds, but those monies were diverted to doing the inspections instead.
Williamsburg Road is a federal route with lots of traffic, Dungan said. It’s located northeast of Columbia and runs roughly parallel with Mississippi 35 to Bassfield. Albert Rayburn Road is in the same area but has less traffic.
Dungan advised the Board to close the bridges and wait until the inspections are finished to see how many end up being closed. In nearby Lincoln County, approximately 12 bridges were closed out of the more than 50 inspected.
Federal inspectors have been targeting wooden-pile bridges throughout the state, and the issue of road and bridge funding is expected to again come up during the 2018 legislative session. There have been several proposals in recent years, but none of them have gotten close to passing as the legislature has been reluctant to raise taxes.
Dungan reminded the Board of the process for bridge closures.
“I have two hours to call you and you have 24 hours to go physically close the bridge,” he said. “That requires physical closure with a pile of gravel and then you put up the signage that you can immediately and then you have 45 days to place the permanent signage, which is those red and white barricades and a road closed sign and road closed ahead signs. The 45 days is a good bit of time, but the 24-hour thing is as soon as you can. Obviously, there could be extenuating circumstances and that sort of thing. That is what the federal highway rule is.”
District 2 Supervisor Terry Broome, whose beat includes the Williamsburg Road bridge, asked about detours.
“The problem you have on Williamsburg Road is that you have two bridges that are three or four miles apart that have several hundred cars a day going over them,” Dungan said. “It is likely that the other one could be closed.”
The two bridges were slated for replacement using federal funds, but there is now no timetable for when that might be done.
“Two years ago, Marion County prepared the plans and specifications to replace both of those bridges,” Dungan said. “We were approved for federal funding to do so and we have been waiting for funds since that time. Now, we’ve come to the point where one of those bridges will be closed and we don’t know about the other one yet. I called this morning and asked when we could anticipate federal funding for the project. I was told there were $35 million in projects waiting. Unfortunately, because of the cost of these bridge inspections that we have to pay with the federal money, they can’t tell us when they are going to be able to fund it. We have done everything we could; we knew these bridges were bad three or four years ago. We got it approved two years ago and we’ve been waiting for the funding and because of the disruption in the federal funding to pay for these bridge inspections, it’s now an indefinite time for the funding.”
The Board is faced with several options, including spending $75,000 to get the bridge back open and posted or to let it be closed and await the $1 million in federal funds to replace the bridges.
“What we’re going to do at the present time is close it,” Broome said. “Then we’ll look at it. We have to look at the options.”
Dungan also explained why Ebenezer Road, which is west of 35 between Columbia and Bassfield, would require a one-lane closure.
“It’s a pre-cast bridge on timber pilings like we have 40-something of,” he said. “They identified one interior pile that needs to be replaced. My recollection was that there were three that we were watching closely.”
Broome asked about changing out the piling on the bridge.
“It would be about $3,500 to hire somebody to do it,” Dungan said. “You go in and dig around the pile, a few feet into the sand, or if it is in water, there is a lot more to it. You cut it off, jack the bridge up and get a new piece of pile, set it in there, pour a concrete collar around it and that’s it. There are several companies that do this.
“The one Albert Rayburn Road is maybe three pilings and a cap. If we got quotes, you’re looking at $15,000 to repair it and get it back
open.”
Pictured Above: This bridge on Williamsburg Road is one of two in Marion County that federal inspectors ordered to be closed, and more inspections are pending. | Photo by Mark Rogers
