The damage to a pier supporting the pedestrian bridge at the Columbus Riverwalk may have been caused by a collision between the foundation and a drifting barge, city officials said in a Monday press release.
The city closed the bridge Friday after city engineers discovered the bridge seemed to be disconnecting from one of the pillars supporting it. City engineer Kevin Stafford told The Dispatch the bridge was designed to hold its own weight without the pillars, but the city closed the bridge as a precaution.
Cooper Marine and Timberlands, a marine, timberlands and stevedoring service company based in Mobile, Alabama, alerted the city on Monday that a barge had broken loose from a tugboat in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway between midnight and sunrise early Friday. The barge drifted down the old Tombigbee River, which could have collided with the piers.
City officials initially thought the pier may have begun rotating on its own due to erosion at the base and water pressure.
If the barge is the cause of the damage, Cooper Marine and Timberlands may be liable, said Columbus Mayor Robert Smith.
Smith said the city hopes to quickly determine the damage and repair the bridge, but city officials have yet to determine how long it may take to make the repairs.
“We want the bridge to reopen as soon as possible, but safety is paramount,” he said. “We have to see what was damaged both above and below the water.”
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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