One of the biggest joint projects in recent history between Forrest County, the City of Petal and the City of Hattiesburg is continuing on its expected pace, as work continues as scheduled on the upcoming East Hardy Street bridge that will connect Petal and Hattiesburg over the Leaf River.
Forrest County Engineer Nick Connolly said contractors are currently working on the guardrails for the structure, which should be done in the near future.
“They’re having to break that guardrail down, so they can reset them for the next section,” he section. “They’ve also drilled the holes for the anchor bolts, and we should be doing an anchor bolt pullout test next week on it, and they’ll set the anchor bolts and get back to pouring the deck.”
Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused some supply chain issues that slightly delayed the project, officials still expect the bridge to be complete by spring of next year.
“It started out with COVID, when we had a bunch of issues getting materials in,” Connolly said. “That did slow it down some, but I think we’ve got everything we need – fingers crossed.
“I will be glad to be driving over this thing (when it’s finished).”
Workers are also expected to begin pouring decks for the bridge in the coming days.
“Those haunches vary, from three to nine inches,” said David Hogan, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. “The engineers want the contractor to mock it up and show them exactly what they’re talking about doing, and they’re going to make sure that’s correct before they let them start pouring.”
Back in June, workers experienced a slight two-week delay on the project caused by some “flex” in the steel beams spanning the $15.2 million bridge, but that issue was quickly fixed within a few days.
“All the spans are up, and they’ve been working on the two approaches while we were figuring out this inconvenience on the beams,” Hogan said at the time. “When they set the beams on the caps, they flexed a couple of inches.
“But other than that, the handrails look great and the approaches are almost done. It’s going to be super nice when we get finished. People on both sides of the river will have a lot better access for a long time to come.”
Also included in the bridge project is a new roadway beginning on East Hardy Street just east of Lee Street before going over the river just south of the current bridge. The roadway will stop just north of Carterville Road in Petal.
The current East Hardy Street bridge, which is more than 70 years old, sees approximately 10,000 vehicles per day and will remain open to traffic until the new bridge is finished.
The design will feature archways at both ends with the words “Forrest County” on the front.
Officials had originally considered demolishing the current bridge, but after learning that endeavor would cost approximately $1 million, the decision was made to leave the structure and transform it into a pedestrian bridge. The funds for that project will come from the Leaf and Bouie Redevelopment District, which was recently established to take the taxes from each side of the Leaf and Bouie rivers and reinvest them back into those areas of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County.
“We have that district set up down there, and that’s bringing in some revenue for the second or third year,” Hogan said. “So we’ll have some money built up to do some stuff to the old bridge once it’s not in use anymore.
“It’s going to be a destination point. There will be a walking path and some lighting, and we’ll probably paint it during events.”
Petal Mayor Tony Ducker said he will be glad to see both bridges put in use.
“We’ve made some changes on our side, that we’re going to allow for some beautification – not budget-busters, but just some things where we can make our side a little more attractive,” he said. “It’s going to be really great to have the new bridge.
“I know (Hattiesburg Mayor Toby) Barker has a lot of activity going on – construction, sidewalks things of that nature. We’ve got our Matthews Branch (walking path) project that’s going to tie in really nicely to that, so there’s a lot of opportunity for sure to get that end of town looking more presentable.”
Funds for the project came from a 2018 special session of the Mississippi Legislature, when members of that board passed House Bill 1. That bill used an emergency bridge and replacement fund – known as the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund – as part of the Mississippi Modernization Act of 2018. Forrest County’s receipt of the $15.2 million was announced in late January 2019 during a news conference near the site of the bridge.
The East Hardy Street bridge was one of the Forrest County road and bridge projects listed on an emergency list for repairs and one of 163 across Mississippi to receive funding that was channeled through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The $15.2 million allotted to Forrest County was the largest for any county in the state.
