Gums Crossing Bridge Will Open In August
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The original bridge that crosses Skuna River was constructed as part of the project to build Grenada Lake in the early 1950s. The bridge was critically damaged during historic flooding in 2019.
GUMS CROSSING – Construction on the longest bridge in the county is nearing completion and will open for traffic in August. The Gums Crossing bridge located on County Road 221 spans the Skuna River on the backwaters of Grenada Lake, a route that has been impassable since February, 2019, when the original bridge sustained crippling damage during historic flooding.
The anticipated opening date for the new bridge is August 19 and county officials are cautiously optimistic that traffic will be flowing across the bridge again on that date or shortly after.
“That is the date the contractor is telling us,” District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray reported during Monday’s meeting. “That is the tentative date when they will be done with the striping and everything.”
The anticipated opening date comes months sooner than expected after officials with the Mississippi Department of Transportation authorized the bridge to be opened before an adjacent work bridge is removed. The temporary work bridge was constructed as a platform for construction on the new concrete bridge. Gray said that there could be lane closures or temporary bridge closures after the new bridge opens in August to accommodate work to remove the work bridge.
The Gums Crossing bridge is one of two bridges that cross Skuna River between Grenada Lake and Bruce. The second bridge crosses Skuna River farther east in Calhoun County and was a primary detour route for motorists coming to Yalobusha County from across the river.
The Calhoun City crossing was closed to heavy trucks last month due to structural problems on the bridge on County Road 245.
Heavy weight traffic now has to detour all the way around Grenada Lake and come back north on Hwy. 7 to get to Coffeeville and other areas of Yalobusha County.
The Gums Crossing Bridge is the costliest contract ever awarded by the Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors. A $16.24 million bid for the bridge construction was awarded to Malouf Construction in February, 2021. The total cost of the project will exceed $20 million after another $4 million spent to remove two massive 35-feet concrete deck spans from the old bridge that splashed down into Grenada Lake in early 2020. The massive concrete spans from the old bridge were lodged directly where the pilings for the new bridge were erected, and covered in almost 30 feet of silt on the lake bottom.
Removal of the concrete spans required dredging the silt to allow divers to access the concrete to attach cables to them for removal. The extra work also included massive hoists that were assembled on barges and were used to lift the concrete out of the lake.
Gray said the best news is the county was able to put together funding for the replacement bridge.
“It could have easily been even longer,” Gray explained. “The cost of the bridge is almost three times the annual budget of the entire expenditures for Yalobusha County. If we had not been declared a federal disaster area, we probably would have never received the funding.”
Gray’s reference to the disaster area followed a declaration by the federal government due to the historic flooding in 2019. The declaration prompted the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration to commit to funding 80 percent of the bridge cost.
Other funding sources included $4.14 million from state funding sources.
“The county will end up with about a million dollars in this project,” Gray said.
Always the comedian, Gray noted that the day after August 19 will bring new challenges.
“I know what date folks will start griping about something else, August 20,” Gray joked.
When will the Gums crossing bridge on Grenada lake open?