The Zollingers Hill bridge, which has been closed since early March, could be undergoing repairs soon.

Brian Robbins and John McKee with Stantec told the Warren County Board of Supervisors during their work session last week they’d like to program the work with the state aid funds that are available now to replace the wood pilings in the structure with concrete pilings.

“The city is working towards a temporary fix to get the bridge open,” McKee told the supervisors.

“The bridge is in good shape,” Robbins said. “Just get the timber pilings cut out and replace with concrete pilings.”

“We’ll be getting rid of another wood piling bridge,” McKee added.

McKee said it could take six months for work to begin and will take 60-90 days to replace the pilings. It will cost the county somewhere in the range of $150,000 to $200,000 from their state aid funds.

State Aid officials notified the city in March they were ordering the bridge, which was built in the 1980s, closed due to an inspection that revealed a rotten wood piling.

“It’s a two-span bridge, which means it has two embankments and one set of pilings right in the middle. Those are timber pilings, and one of them has been crushed, because it has been rotted out, and the others have between 50 and 70 percent loss,” Lannie Glover with State Aid said in March.

“The consultants that have inspected it have looked at it and have done the calculations on the load the bridge can carry, and it’s not sufficient to keep that bridge open,” he added.

Three tons, Glover said, is the minimum weight a bridge can support to stay open under state regulations. City public works director Garnet Van Norman said the bridge’s usual weight limit is eight tons.

Robbins told the supervisors he believes the city is looking at doing a temporary fix to get the bridge reopened.

“I think they’re looking at the possibility of doing a temporary repair to get it open at a low rating until the state aid system can be utilized,” Robbins said.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to take up this matter and others during their regular meeting May 7 at 9 a.m. on the third floor of the Warren County courthouse.