The Vicksburg Bridge Commission voted Wednesday to approve a $99,775 contract with Riverside Construction for temporary erosion controls under the U.S. 80 Mississippi River bridge.

The project will include repairs at the bridge abutment where the span meets the banks on the Mississippi side of the river, drainage work and some erosion controls. The project is part of a $6 million proposal to stop erosion near the bridge.

Don Miller of Riverside said the work will be tricky, but that he hopes to finish in less than three months.

“That’s going to be kind of an unusual job. Obviously you can’t just bring an excavator in there and start digging,” Miller said.

Engineers with ABMB say dirt under the 75-year-old span is sliding down the bank and threatening the supports of the bridge. They also say the bank at Navy Circle just north of the bridge is also moving and threatening that National Military Park property.

Federal funding is being sought for that work, and the remaining $6 million project, said Lynn Wolfe of ABMB. Currently there is no timetable for that project because it will require Congressional action.

Engineers have also said they are concerned about the safety of a natural gas pipeline that crossing the river on the bridge. Dirt sliding down under the bridge has already covered the bases of the piers under the structure and is threatening to potential break the gas line there.

The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since 1998, but the railroad crossing in Vicksburg is the only one between Memphis and Baton Rouge.