Three bridges in Newton County have been closed after state bridge inspectors have been conducting bridge inspections over the last few weeks.
The Newton County Board of Supervisors were notified that bridges on Greenfield Road and Pine Ridge Road failed inspection and had to be closed immediately. The City of Newton was also forced to close the bridge on Third Avenue until further notice after the bridge failed inspection.
According to county and city officials, the state ordered the bridge to be closed within 24 hours of receiving the notification. Both orders were received on Sept. 30.
The Newton Board of Mayor and Aldermen discussed their options at their board on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 5:30 p.m.
The Newton County Board of Supervisors, which received funding for bridge replacement for the county, will also discussed their bridge closures Monday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. at the Newton County Courthouse in Decatur.
Both have until Oct. 11 to notify the state of their intentions to repair the bridges or close them permanently.
Supervisor Kenneth Harris said he wants to see the Third Avenue bridge repaired.
“I want to have it fixed. I want to see some of that money go to that bridge,” Harris said.
Supervisor Joe Alexander said they should figure out a way to repair all three in one fell swoop.
However, County engineer Duane Sanford said they should wait and see if any additional bridges fail inspection.
“We probably need to wait until they’re done here,” Sanford said. “They’re still here.”
If any additional bridges fail inspection, Sanford suggested trying to include those in any bids.
One of the main issues with the bridges is wooden pilings. Sanford said the state is trying to eliminate all wooden pilings from bridges and replace them with metal and concrete pilings, and this issues has been going on for many years.
In 2016, the Newton County Board of Supervisors approved a $203,209.67 contract from Magco Inc., from Laurel to replace wooden pilings on First, Third and Pilate avenues in Newton. After the work was completed later that year, all three bridges passed county and state inspections and were opened to traffic.
However, federal inspectors conducted inspections in 2017 and found two wooden pilings behind a bricked section underneath the Pilate Avenue bridge, forcing the closure of one lane of the bridge to traffic. Those pilings were later replaced and the bridge was completely reopened.
County Engineer Duane Stanford said in 2017 the county originally was going to replace all three bridges and he had even drawn up plans for all three bridges, but the state didn’t fund the Local System Bridge Program, which provides counties and municipalities with funding for bridge maintenance. The county only had about $200,000 to replace the pilings and a total replacement for the bridges would have cost around $450,000 at that time.
