Avoyelles Police Jury may replace record number of bridges in 2019

It’s always good to set a new record. If that record also results in replacing several aging timber bridges, so much the better.

Police Jury President Charles Jones said that if the parish can get the engineering and surveying work done, “this will be a record number of bridges” being replaced under the state Off-System Bridge Replacement Program in one year.

Two of those have been waiting in the wings for many years.

Little River Bridge in the Spring Bayou area was first approved by the state for replacement almost 30 years ago. Just as it got up to the top of the list for funding, the state determined its plan was obsolete and had to be reworked.

Sitting on a shelf for over a quarter-century can do that to a plan.

The contract should be awarded this summer, Civil Works Director Kevin Bordelon told jurors.

The bridge on E. Bryant Road in Ward One has also been on hold for about a decade, but work should begin later this year. It also had to have its plans redrawn.

In addition to those two “old-timers,” the state has approved six new projects for this year.

Those bridge projects are on Leo Morrow Road (Goudeau), Katie Road, Carl Hunt Road (Bunkie), German Bayou Road (Fifth Ward), Bill Belt Road (Blue Town) and Faith Baptist Mission Road (Hickory Hill).

Jones said the concrete bridges that will replace these timber bridges will require more property -- which means acquiring parcels through purchase or easement.

Rights-of-way and easement issues have been known to be obstacles for construction projects in the past, but Jones is optimistic that obtaining use of these additional small pieces of property will not be a problem.