CATAULA, Ga. (AP) - A bridge replacement gone awry is meaning a longer delay for drivers near Columbus.
Construction started in September 2019 on a replacement bridge on Fortson Road, south of Hamilton. The bridge closed in February 2020 and was supposed to reopen in mid-2020. The previous bridge was 62 years old and had serious structural problems.
But the Ledger-Enquirer reports the bridge isn’t now projected to reopen until June, after Georgia Department of Transportation officials found the bridge’s concrete deck wouldn’t bear the required loads. The state instructed Baldwin Paving Co. of Marietta to remove and replace the deck.
Spokesperson Penny Brooks said the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed delivery of materials for the bridge over Standing Boy Creek. Baldwin Paving is paying an extra $200,000 to correct the problem on the $3.2 million project.
The detour for drivers is at least 7.2 miles (11.6 kilometers).
Lindsey Bader teaches health and wellness at Creekside Intermediate School, coaches girls soccer as an assistant at Harris County High School and has one child in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school.
While the bridge has been closed, Bader’s 8-minute commute to Creekside has been 22-25 minutes, her children’s bus rides have been 35-40 minutes longer, and she and her husband must wake up at least 30 minutes earlier each school day to get everybody ready, she said.
“It’s miserable and infuriating,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer, saying the family is also spending more on gas.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.