Repairs to Shallowford Bridge have been completed, leaving Fannin County officials hopeful the structure spanning the Toccoa River can remain open until a new bridge is built.
Commission Chairman Jamie Hensley and Public Works Director Zack Ratcliff visited the site last week, discussing the repairs as well as future plans for the area near the bridge adjacent to Aska Road.
Fannin County commissioners voted March 8 to spend $24,773.37 from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) revenues toward the work to keep the bridge open. A Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) from Georgia provided the remaining funds, $82,577.90.
Had the local money not been approved, the bridge was in danger of being closed as early as June of this year, Ratcliff told commissioners.
The gusset plate problems GDOT inspectors found on the bridge have now been fixed. The work involved strengthening and painting the plates and the immediate areas around them.
Only a few months earlier, the county had re-decked the bridge.
The county is now moving forward to improve river access upstream from the bridge. An area adjacent to the bridge will be turned into a parking lot and an Eagle Scout project to build steps leading into the river is scheduled. Those steps will be at the upstream end of the new parking lot, Hensley said.
Ratcliff said a tree line buffer will be left in place between the lot and the river. This will provide access for fishermen at several points.
Ratcliff said the last word from GDOT was that a contract for the new bridge to span the Toccoa River should be let in September. The bridge is to be built approximately 150 feet downstream from the current bridge.
Estimates are that construction will take about two years.