Repair work to Zollingers Bridge expected to get underway soon
Published 9:30 pm Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Work could soon be underway to reopen the Zollingers Hill bridge.
Vicksburg Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said Tuesday the city has accepted a $16,000 quote from Fordice Construction Co. of Vicksburg to repair a damaged wooden piling on the bridge. Mississippi State Aid road officials closed the bridge March 3 after an inspection indicated a section of the piling was rotting, making the bridge unsafe.
Zollingers Hill is a one-way street running between Skyfarm Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It is a popular short cut for people living on Sky Farm and neighboring streets to the east to get to Martin Luther King.
Van Norman said Fordice was the only company to quote a price for the work.
He said plans for the repair call for the splintered part of the damaged piling to be cut out and spliced using a concrete piling and bracing to strengthen it.
He did not know when work would begin on the repairs.
Because the bridge is a state aid bridge, Van Norman said, Warren County supervisors will put it on their list to replace the wooden pilings with concrete pilings.
“But that takes time; we need to get the bridge open, so we’re going to splice it (the piling) and get the bridge open,” he said, adding a weight limit will be placed on the bridge.
North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said he believes the county has received state approval to make the repairs, “(But) that may take 8, 10, months, maybe a year, I’m not sure, but what we’re doing is get the area the state is most concerned about.
“I want it (the repairs) done as quickly as possible because of the danger people in the area face because of people coming off Zollingers Hill,” Mayfield continued. “That is a very blind sport coming off that hill, and then you have people, when they realize you don’t have traffic coming from that way, they begin to park down there and do all kinds of things they shouldn’t be doing.”