Bridge opens below Waterford


Thursday, December 7, 2006
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Bridge opens below Waterford

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Dirt and gravel were applied to 150 feet on each side of a bridge on Old Highway 7 South and the shoulders were reinforced.

Supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett said the roadbed will be allowed to settle before overlaying with asphalt. The road has reopened with a gravel surface.

A second bridge in the bottom won’t be replaced until next year when state monies become available, he said.

“I really would like to have both bridges replaced this year, but waiting until state funds are available will save county taxpayers money,” Bennett said.

The two bridges in this bottom were rotted and setting on the creek bottom due to the sediment that filled the creek after the new Highway 7 was built, Bennett said.

Fill dirt for the approaches was donated by Conway Moore of Waterford, he said.

This bridge was paid for with county dollars, the concrete span coming at a reduced price from Tunica County, according to county administrator/road manager Larry Hall.

County-hired contractors drove the steel pilings for the bridge. County employees are dressing up the approaches and shoulders and reinforcing the banks with rip rap and recycled asphalt.

Because this creek is spring-fed from water from Wall Doxey State Park, the bottom is a wetland.

Bennett said the road bed has always been low and made the highway prone to flooding in very rainy seasons. He hopes the county board of supervisors may see fit to raise the roadbed next year after the other bridge is replaced.

Old Highway 7 for many years was the main road connecting Oxford to Highway 78. After the new highway was built, Old Highway 7 South segments were maintained by Marshall County and provide opportunities for residential as well as agricultural uses from Holly Springs to the Lafayette County line.

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