The Washington Street bridge project was to have been completed Friday.

Friday morning, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a request from Kansas City Southern Railroad for a three-month extension, to Sept. 30, to finish the job.

Under the agreement between the city and the railroad, KCS will cover any additional costs the city incurs because of the extension.

“The (construction) contract was for 365 days, and time was running out,” said Garnet Van Norman, Vicksburg’s interim director of public works. “They (KCS) had to ask for the extension. They outlined the problems they were having.”

City Attorney Lee Davis Thames Jr. said the extra money the city might have to pay project engineer TranSystems because of the extension was a major concern with the agreement. He said the promise by KCS to cover extra costs was received Thursday.

Built in 1929, the 82-year-old bridge was closed Jan. 29, 2009, after accelerating erosion on the banks supporting it threatened the span. It was the second time the bridge had been closed. A partial collapse of one of the banks in the 1980s forced city officials to close the bridge for a year for repairs.

In 2010, the board approved a project not to exceed $8.6 million to build a tunnel covered by a roadbed over the railroad tracks, with the city paying $3.7 million of the project’s cost and KCS paying $4 million. The city rededicated bond money for a sports complex on Fisher Ferry Road to cover its share.