Several bridges and two roads are currently or will soon be temporarily closed for emergency purposes at the recommendation of the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Office of State Aid Road Construction.
The two county roads being posted as closed are Dyson and Dogleg roads.
Because of the current conditions of several of the bridges — timber structures or bad timber piles that interfere with the capacity to hold loads, the Office of State Aid Road Construction recommends they be closed until the problems are addressed.
The bridge closures for Washington County include Club 17, Greer, Wilcox, Avon Darlove, Sandifer, Butch Wilson and Nightengale roads.
It was conveyed at Monday’s Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting that County Road Manager Arthur Perry and County Engineer Marcus Hooker have already begun developing a plan for the bridge closures.
Board members expressed their concerns about the closures, stating some county residents depend on the bridge and access because in the event of heavy rain pour or flooding, those roads and bridges are the only ways of passage in some areas.
“I would suggest that those ones that can be opened up quickly, we work on those first,” District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon said.
Perry said materials for repairing the bridges have been ordered and work will begin as soon as they arrive.
