The Muddy Bayou Bridge is back in service.

MDOT Central District engineer Kevin Magee said the bridge on Mississippi 465 in the Eagle Lake community, which has been closed since March 29, was reopened to traffic at 4 p.m. Thursday. He said the project was completed a day early despite the flood conditions that closed Mississippi 465 from U.S. 61 North to Eagle Lake.

“The contractor was able to mobilize and get all his equipment in there and finish the work, and the workers had to use the backwater levees to get to the job.” Magee said. “The bridge is substantially complete. All that’s left is the cleanup and some cosmetic work.” He said the only problem was bringing in cement truck, which had to be brought in on 465 north of Eagle Lake.

He said the contractor’s equipment is still at the bridge site but parked on the side of the road, “So people will have to be careful when they drive by.”

The bridge was closed March 29 after an inspection by an MDOT bridge inspection team discovered severe decay in the bridge’s timber piles. The closure effectively split the Eagle Lake community in half.