Five Attala County bridges closed, others posted for low weight. County seeks emergency funding for repairs.
As federal inspections of Attala County bridges continue, three more have been closed in addition to two earlier closures.
According to County Engineer Christian Gardner, the three new closures are all railroad flatbed car bridges. They are Crooked Creek bridge on Attala Road 4004 (Bridge 4), the Redder Branch bridge on Attala Road 3231 (Bridge 180) and the Zilpha Creek bridge on Attala Road 3217 (Bridge 148).
Gardner said the county has about 15 railroad flatbed car bridges that are now being inspected with updated standards, which has led to these closures and may result in others as inspections continue.
Federal inspectors are about halfway through local bridge inspections, Gardner said.
Several months ago, two bridges on Seneasha Creek on Attala Road 4002 (Bridges 10 and 11) were closed. County Supervisor Kary Ellington made some repairs in the hope of having it reopened, but after reexamination, inspectors kept both closed. Gardner said inspectors decided the columns holding up the bridge are too narrow for the depth of the creek, so the entire bridge will need to be replaced.
The Black Branch bridge on Attala Road 4137 (Bridge 65) was closed more than 18 months ago, according to Gardner, but the timber bridge does not service significant traffic; therefore, repair has not been a high priority for the county.
In Attala County, Gardner said about 40% of county bridges are already restricted use, meaning they are not rated to handle traffic weighing more than 80,000 pounds. That means that while some emergency vehicles and school buses can cross them, they are closed to large truck traffic.
Detours to avoid the closed or low-rated bridges are typically adding 15-16 miles of additional mileage for drivers, mostly on unpaved roads.
“An extra 15- or 16-mile detour on upaved roads can take someone an extra 30 to 35 minutes,” said Gardner.
Since the inspectors are only about halfway through the process locally, Gardner said that additional bridges may be downgraded or closed based on the recent standards.
The Attala County Board of Supervisors has applied for about $12.53 million in funding through the state $250 million Emergency Reconstruction Bridge Repair Fund — some of which are included in the recent closures.
The day prior to the grant application filing deadline, more than $350 million in funds had been requested by counties across the state.
The supervisors selected 13 bridges for potential funding through the program.
Those bridges are as follows:
Bridge Numbers 10 and 11 on Road 4002 ($1,658,625)
Bridge Number 78 on Road 1215 ($499,000)
Bridge Number 92 on Road 5001 ($473,000)
Bridge Number 127 on Road 5233 ($408,000)
Bridge Number 160 on Road 2120 ($658,025)
Bridge Number 179 on Hwy 407 ($1,342,000)
Bridge Number 147 and 148 on Road 3217 ($3,534,000)
Bridge Number 143, 144, 145, & 146 on Road 3221 ($3,956,000).
“These are not all the bridges that have problems. These are just the most critical,” Gardner said. “We have maybe 50 that need addressing.”
Until administrators of the Emergency Reconstruction Bridge Repair Fund notify those earning grants in mid-January, it is unclear if or how many of the Attala County projects will be funded. If funded, the county will have three years to complete those projects.
