Rising Lake Level Threatens To Delay Gums Crossing Project
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The work bridge that spans Skuna River and the backwaters of Grenada Lake has been completed. The work bridge will be used as a platform for equipment to start construction on a new bridge at Gums Crossing on County Road 221. – Photo by John Beshears
GUMS CROSSING – A forecast calling for little rain during the next 10 days is welcome news for the bridge construction project at Gums Crossing after steady rain pushed the water level at Grenada Lake up more than four feet during the last week. The U.S. Corps of Engineers website listed the lake level at 215.65 feet (above MSL) Tuesday morning.
“Anything under 219 feet is a work day,” District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray explained, a reference to the terms of the contract that states the contractor building the new bridge will not be penalized for delays if the lake level rises over 219 feet.
The bridge, the longest in the county, has been closed since February, 2019, after sustaining crippling damage during historic flooding. The closure has severed a portion of the county south of the Skuna River, forcing residents to take a lengthy detour to access the remainder of Yalobusha County.
The bridge replacement, the most costly project ever awarded by the Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors, has experienced multiple delays since a $16.24 million bid was awarded to Malouf Construction in January, 2021. Work started in early summer that year, but soon hit a snag after contractors discovered that four of the massive bridge spans from the old bridge were buried under almost 30 feet of silt in the lake bottom. The bridge spans fell into the water in 2020, a year after the bridge was damaged, and two of them were located directly where the pilings for the new bridge will be placed.
High water in 2021 – the lake crested at 226.86 feet on June 25 – compounded the work as crews worked for months to dredge the areas around the concrete spans to allow them to be hoisted out of the lake. The cost for removing the concrete exceeded $3 million and was outside of the scope of initial contract awarded for the job, pushing the total cost of the project north of $22 million.
Slow Progress
Last month contractors completed a temporary work bridge that spans Skuna River, a milestone for the project. The work bridge is located adjacent to the path of the new bridge and will serve as a platform for equipment to erect the new bridge. Supervisor Gray said that the elevation for the top of the work bridge is 221.9 feet, and reiterated if the water rises to 219 feet the work could be suspended in accordance with the contract terms. Gray also reported planned work in the coming months will be driving 13 massive steel casings deep below the water in the river channel. The casings will be filled with concrete to support the new bridge.
Nobody has monitored the project closer than Gray. The bridge is located in his beat, and he is among residents in the county who live in the now isolated portion of the county known as the land between the rivers as the Skuna River is north and the Yalobusha River is south of the area. The supervisor fields questions about the status of the project on an almost daily basis, questions that come from everyone you can imagine – inconvenienced anglers to long-time neighbors and friends who share his frustration.
“We aren’t worried about the crappie fishing, we are worried about the ambulance being able to get here if we need it,” Gray explained.
Gray also believes he is probably one of the few people who didn’t underestimate how complicated the project could become.
“I lived here 58 years, I know,” he explained about the complexity of the Skuna River that includes massive fluctuations in water levels.
Gray has dubbed the bridge replacement “the damnedest project Yalobusha County has ever tackled.”
The list of project complications is already lengthy, the bid price came in four million dollars higher than the engineers’ estimates. Inflation and supply shortages hit shortly after the contract was awarded. The demolition and removal of the old bridge took longer and cost more money than predicted. The massive bit used to drill a test piling broke and a replacement bit was not available in the entire country, requiring the bit to be shipped to Texas to be reworked.
The latest complication was a bridge piling from the original bridge was discovered in the exact location where a new bridge piling will be located.
“Nobody knew about that piling, obviously it was a test piling from the original bridge. It was right in the way,” Gray added.
And now the water level is again a concern. Gray noted that the water levels had been unusually high at Grenada Lake the last four years.
“Thankfully there is not a lot of rain in the forecast,” Gray noted. “If we can ever get out of the mud, I believe there will be progress.”
