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Floodway bridge damage discussed
CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County will soon have a cost estimate on restoring county bridges damaged by the activation of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.
During the regular County Commission meeting Thursday, Dennis Cox, an engineer for Smith and Company of Poplar Bluff, reported on the inspections of bridges located in the floodway.
Other than a bridge on County Road 310 that was completely displaced, Cox said he saw "nothing catastrophic or in danger of imminent collapse."
Replacing that displaced bridge, however, will be a major project.
The ditch the bridge crossed was about 50-60 feet across but is now around 200 feet across. "There's a lot of material that's gone," Cox said.
Commissioner Robert Jackson said he thinks they will have to replace the clear-span bridge with a pile bridge.
Also in that immediate area, a steel beam bridge with a concrete deck on County Road 312 has an issue with a pile which has reduced its load limit from 20 tons to 10 tens, Cox said.
Jackson said county officials need to consider choosing between County Road 310 and 312 -- restoring one and abandoning the other -- as both the roads and a bridge on each of those roads suffered such significant damage. "One of those bridges needs to be closed," he said.
For the complete article and more local news stories, see the July 8 edition of the Standard Democrat or click here to log on to the electronic edition.