Published: September 22, 2009 09:13 am      

Bridge repairs have been slow coming

Needed repairs to the Verden low-water crossing bridge are slow in coming.

“We have had a plan-in-hand meeting with the first set of plans drawn up, and we have drilled to determine how deep it is to bedrock. We are now waiting for environmental clearance,” said Grady County Commissioner Mike Lennier.

Lennier said the bridge, which collapsed in 2007, is not eligible for FEMA money because it is considered a major collector. However, he said the county has applied for and has been accepted for federal assistance and funds to replace the structure.

“Originally, we hoped to have the paperwork done by fall, but now it will probably be next spring,” Lennier said. “The paperwork is in Washington.”

The old bridge was an 80-foot double span bridge with a piling in the center which sank during the heavy flooding two years ago. The plans for the new bridge include a 100-foot single span.

“The logic is that I fully expect that area to flood again someday. This way, it can wash out around the bridge and we can bring in material and fill around the bridge,” Lennier said. “The purpose of a bridge on a low-water crossing was never to be able to withstand a flood. Whatever size of bridge is built there, it is going to be closed during flood times.”

Lennier said it would cost more to clean out the channel to the river than it would to cost to build a new bridge and, even if the channel were cleaned out, the next time it floods, it would have to be cleaned out again.

“The process is moving forward, but as far as the time and date, I don’t know. And will the paperwork be run through by spring? I hope so,” Lennier said.