One of Coweta County’s most needed bridge replacement projects was approved at the March 2 county commission meeting. The contract for the replacement of the old timber pile bridge on Reese Road at Keg Creek was awarded to Sunbelt Structures at a cost of $310,006.
County Director of Development & Engineering Wayne Kennedy said the current bridge has a sufficiency rating of 18.4.
“This rating is one of the worst ratings we have on Coweta County bridges,” said Kennedy.
Bridges scoring below 50 are considered to be in need of replacement, he said.
The new bridge will include a 36-foot by 9-foot pre-cast bottomless culvert with pre-cast concrete headwalls and wingwalls.
Sunbelt’s bid was the lowest of a total of seven received. The remaining bids ranged from $324,797 to $502,165.
Other SPLOST-funded bridge projects for 2010 include Luther Bailey Road at Dead Oak Creek at a cost of $450,000 and Luther Bailey at Double Branch at $400,000. GDOT bridge projects for 2010 include White Oak Creek at Cannon Road and CXS Railroad on Greentop Road.
Further into the future, SPLOST funding is expected to pay for bridge work at Moore Road and White Oak tributary in 2011 and Moore Road at Little White Oak Creek in 2012. Still other bridge projects, as yet unconfirmed as to the date and funding source, include Little White Oak Creek at Al Roberts Road, Keg Creek at McIntosh Trail and projects along creeks on Holbrook Road, Mt. Carmel Road and J.D. Walton Road.
The condition of some of Coweta’s bridges mirrors that of bridges in communities across America. Kennedy said all 13 bridges on the project list, along with 10 others, have a sufficiency rating score of 30-50 points. Citing a specific example from the list, Kennedy said the Shoal Creek bridge at Lower Fayetteville Road has a rating of 7 points.
