The Mississippi Department of Transportation has closed the Muddy Bayou Bridge on Mississippi 465 in the Eagle Lake community indefinitely, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

Pace said he was called by MDOT engineers about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday and was told an inspection of the wooden bridge showed it was “structurally deficient” and it was being closed immediately.

He said county emergency management officials issued a Code Red alert about the bridge closure.

“Closing the bridge essentially cuts Eagle Lake in half,” Pace said.

He said the Eagle Lake Volunteer Fire Department, which is north of the bridge, moved one of its two fire trucks on the opposite side of the bridge at a firefighter’s home.

“I have notified the transportation department with the Vicksburg Warren School District, and they will use the 465 high side on the levee, just as they did during the 2011 flood,” he said. “As for law enforcement, I have made sure we will have deputies to respond to calls on either side of the bridge.”