Second Skuna River Bridge Is Closed
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The bridge on Skuna River in Calhoun County that was closed Monday is located south of Hwy. 330 on County Road 245.
GUMS CROSSING – Both bridges that span the Skuna River between Grenada Lake and Bruce are now impassable after the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors closed County Road 245 Monday afternoon, citing structural problems with the river bridge.
The Gums Crossing bridge east of Coffeeville that crosses the Skuna River in Yalobusha County has been closed since February, 2019, after runoff from heavy flooding damaged bridge pilings and ultimately caused portions of the bridge to collapse a year later.
CR 245 in Calhoun County has been used as one of the primary detours during construction of a new bridge at Gums Crossing. District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray expressed concern about the latest closure during a Board of Supervisors meeting at the Coffeeville courthouse Monday morning. Gray and other residents who live across Skuna River in southeastern Yalobusha County have used the Calhoun County road as an alternate route to get to Coffeeville and other areas of Yalobusha County since the Gums Crossing bridge in Yalobusha County was closed.
“That road in Calhoun County has been used by garbage trucks, ambulances and school buses as a detour,” Gray explained Monday.
“What do we tell our ambulance services and sheriff’s department?” District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris asked.
“They will have to go around by Grenada. They have done it before during times in the winter when that road in Calhoun County was almost impassable,” Gray said.
Gray also relayed input from an engineer who said it was likely that the Calhoun County bridge will have to be replaced, a multi-year project.
“We will have our bridge by then,” he added.
Gray said construction on the Gums Crossing bridge across Skuna River is expected to be completed in four to six months.
“One glorious day we are going to cross Gums Crossing again,” Gray said.
