Gum’s Crossing Bridge Could Be Completed In Another Year
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Crane operators working at Gums Crossing bridge hoist a steel rebar cage in the air. Once vertical, the 150-foot piece of metal will be placed inside a steel casing that has been driven deep in the water. The steel casing is then filled with concrete to complete a bridge pylon. Ten of the 13 bridge pylons have been completed. – Photo by John Beshears
GUMS CROSSING – Construction on the longest bridge in the county that spans the Skuna River and the backwaters of Grenada Lake could be completed by this time next year. County Engineer Karl Grubb provided the estimate on the Gums Grossing bridge on County Road 221 during a supervisor meeting last week.
The original Gums Crossing bridge was 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 the initial contract awarded for the job, pushing the total cost of the project north of $22 million.
District Five Gaylon Gray noted during the August 28 meeting that although the number of construction workers at the site has been slim, they have made big strides.
“Those guys have worked. They have already built one bridge across Skuna River. And I am talking about four of five of them,” Gray said.
Gray was referencing a work bridge that also spans the Skuna River. The temporary work bridge was completed in March and runs parallel alongside the path of the new bridge. The construction crews use the work bridge platform for work on the permanent bridge.
Grubb acknowledged that labor issues has impacted progress on the bridge construction.
“They were having labor issues trying to get people to work. Instead of having a crew at the yard doing stuff (where the materials are stored) and a crew on the bridge, they were back and forth so their production was way down,” Grubb explained.
“We have talked about projections and this is pure speculation at this point. Are we still looking at maybe the fall of next year?” Board of President Cayce Washington asked.
“End of summer next year,” Grubb answered. “If I had to guess, it will be this time next year.”
