The bridge over the Luxapalila Creek on Waterworks Road is going to be replaced, eventually leading to a closure of nine months to a year.
Columbus City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night to accept an approximately $4 million grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Emergency Road and Bridge Replacement fund to replace the bridge, which is currently only open to weight-restricted traffic.
Chief Operations Officer Jammie Garrett said the city originally applied for $3.7 million in May 2022, but the project didn’t make the cut.
That changed earlier this year, according to City Engineer Kevin Stafford.
“MDOT came back to us three or four months ago and said the legislature funded the program again,” Stafford said Wednesday at Mayor Keith Gaskin’s press conference. “They told MDOT to go back to the applications that were not funded in 2022.”
The state even ponied up more money than the city first asked for, Stafford said.
“Materials costs have gone up about 10% since then,” Stafford said. “We’re getting about $4,012,900 now.”
The city doesn’t have to put up any match money, Stafford said, but it will be on the hook for any costs over the award amount.
Stafford said some of the structure underneath the bridge has deteriorated, and he thought there were some scour issues as well.
Scour refers to the loss of sediment, such as sand and gravel, from around bridge abutments and piers due to flowing water.
The bridge has needed work for a while, Stafford said.
“(Traffic on the bridge) is already weight restricted,” he said. “That’s due to both the age of the bridge and the issues that are there. The whole purpose of the ERBR program is to bring these old bridges back up to speed.”
Stafford wasn’t sure when the bridge was built. County Road Manager Bob Calvert wasn’t, either, but thought it dated to the late 1960s or early 1970s.
The road will have to be closed for the duration of the work, Stafford said.
“Off the top of my head, I’m going to say it’ll take nine months to a year,” Stafford said. “It’s all going to be weather-dependent. The closest detour is down Highway 182, unless you go into the back roads to the north.”
There is a while to go before work starts, though.
“There’s a long lead time,” Stafford said. “The city has to go through an engineer selection process, which will probably take about two months. At that point it’ll probably take off running.”
Tuesday night the council approved the grant 4-2, with Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Stewart and Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens voting no.
New tractor
Tuesday night the council also found a creative way to fund an equipment purchase for Public Works.
Public Works Director Casey Bush has been after a new tractor with a sidearm, but the funding has been hard to find. Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene suggested using unspent money in the department’s payroll budget to buy the equipment, and the council unanimously agreed.
Chief Financial Officer James Brigham told The Dispatch there was about $200,000 available from about eight to 10 unfilled positions over Fiscal Year 2023. The cost of the tractor is estimated to be about $170,000.
The spending was approved as an amendment to the FY 2023 budget.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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