A $10 million share of $340 million in Katrina-related block grants may be available to Warren County to help replace the bridge connecting E.W. Haining Road to North Washington Street.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” said Jimmy G. Gouras, whose firm pitched information on the funds to the Warren County Board of Supervisors, meeting in an information session Thursday. It was their first gathering since Tuesday’s general election. All, except District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders, won new terms.

Part of the array of incentives associated with the Gulf Opportunity Zone, established by Congress after the August 2005 hurricane, the funds are administered by the Mississippi Development Authority and come with categories by which counties and cities can qualify, Gouras said.

The board, including Flanders, agreed to set a December hearing date to declare areas around the port blighted, which is one approach to establishing eligibility. Asking for the money to create jobs is another approach, Gouras said, but he recommended the blight designation because the number of new jobs created at the port by replacing the bridge was not likely to be enough.

There was “no doubt,” Gouras said, that such a designation would apply to the project, adding coastal cities such as Long Beach and Pascagoula have made similar declarations to qualify for money.

Replacing the bridge with a structure that can withstand heavier loads has been part of ongoing plans to connect U.S. 61 North with the port. An elevated road connecting the federal highway with the port just north of Anderson-Tully Co. has become the most attractive option to state transportation officials and the Warren County Port Commission.

Cost estimates on the long-studied connector road run more than $20 million, likely to be shared through state and local matches. During Thursday’s talks, County Engineer John McKee said replacing the bridge would cost at least $5 million, with replacement of other port infrastructure like the overhead crane and a metal storage building to run another $4 million.

Bids were sought but not received during the county’s push to replace the T-dock support structure at the port. Port improvement bonds are financing the ongoing, $3.4 million project.

As for its impact to the port, executive director Wayne Mansfield said seeking the available funds comes at a crucial time.

“There’s an urgency there,” Mansfield said, referencing increased industrial development at the port.

Mansfield told the board negotiations continue with port operator Kinder Morgan and SeverCorr on maintaining a long-term contract to move raw materials in the development of steelmaking through Vicksburg.

“It’s still very preliminary,” he said. “But we’re aware of the complexity involved in this.”