Speed, weight limits reduced by GDOT
Fear and worry turned to relief last week when Fannin County officials learned the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) found a way to keep Shallowford Bridge open.
The safety of the span over the Toccoa River just off Aska Road has been in question for some time, but an order by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) demanding its immediate closure caught county officials by surprise.
That order came December 31, followed by a January 4 notification to residents from Fannin County on Nixle the bridge was to be immediately and permanently closed.
However, the GDOT letter demanding closure allowed a 15-day grace period.
Fannin County Commission Chairman Jamie Hensley said officials agreed to use this time in an effort to find a solution.
Wednesday, January 5, Hensley, along with Sheriff Dane Kirby and Public Works Director Zack Ratcliff, met with GDOT Bridge Design Group Leader Kevin Schwartz, P.E., to discuss the situation and visit the bridge. That trip included an assessment of the Noontootla Creek Bridge on Newport Road, also recently closed by GDOT.
Schwartz’ visit resulted in a GDOT anaylsis that leaves the bridge open. In a letter dated Friday, January 7 to Hensley, Donn Digamon, P.E., state bridge engineer, wrote the structure should be posted for three tons and the speed limit posted for 5 miles per hour.
Other conditions outlined in the letter included that the bridge be posted for one vehicle at a time and the section loss on the lower gusset plates and connections should be cleaned and painted. The bridge is to be inspected again in six months to make sure GDOT recommendations are followed.
The letter explained the analysis of the gusset plates was updated from the more detailed inspection to reflect the exact location of the loss more accurately.
During Schwarz’ visit, Fannin County also received the go-ahead to move forward with fixing the Noontootla Creek Bridge. That authorization had been sought by the county for several weeks.
Hensley said county officials explained the importance of Shallowford Bridge to basic transportation in the area as well as its importance in providing public safety access for and from both sides of the Toccoa. Closing it would add a minimum of 20 minutes travel to many locations in the area, Hensley said.
Hensley said that immediately following the news of the impending closure, many officials and others made pleas to GDOT to re-evaluate the decision.
Shallowford Bridge has long been in line to be replaced, with safety concerns having been noted for years and talk to replace the bridge dating back to Bill Simonds’ time as commission chairman.
Following public hearings, GDOT announced in June 2019 the approval of the design and location for a new bridge 150 feet downstream from the current structure. That announcement included an estimated construction time of 15 months.
At their October 22, 2019, meeting Commission Chairman Stan Helton and commissioners Earl Johnson and Glenn Patterson unanimously agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding between the county and GDOT calling for construction to begin in the Spring of 2021. That agreement stated construction would take about a year and the existing structure would be left in place until 2022. At that time, GDOT was to give maintenance and inspection of the old (current) bridge to the county.
“If we do not agree to sign this memorandum, the GDOT will demo the bridge and this history of the 101-year-old bridge will be lost forever,” the minutes from the October 22 commission meeting said.
Those minutes said that based on community input, “the public would like for this bridge to be saved.”
Answering a question from Patterson, Helton told the other commissioners that if the county agreed to the memorandum the old bridge would stay open until the new bridge was constructed.
Construction of the new bridge did not begin in the Spring of 2021 as scheduled, with COVID-19 causing construction delays all across Georgia.
Hensley said the county has not ignored the need to keep Shallowford Bridge in the safest condition possible. Specifically, county crews re-decked the bridge within the last few months at a cost of $13,251.80. The money came from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.