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Century Bridge Near Collapse Remains Unrepaired Seven Months After It Was Closed

A bridge in the Century town remains closed without repair seven months after it was discovered to be near the point of collapse.

On January 29, the town suddenly closed the bridge on Freedom Road, just east of Jefferson Avenue.

Photos obtained by NorthEscambia.com a few days later showed the dangerous conditions that led to the emergency closure.

Several pilings under the wooden bridge were no longer properly supporting the structure, and some of the pilings were split or have extreme deterioration.

In early February, the Century Town Council voted to move forward with replacing the bridge. Town staff was to determine how to pay the estimated $300,000 price tag. The council voted for the replacement over an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 for repairs that might last a decade, according to Interim City Manager Vernon Prather.

A final determination of a funding option was to come at un upcoming meeting.

In January Mott McDonald engineers conducted a limited inspection of the bridge and found the following problems:

• A backwall has deflected toward the water, pushing piles toward the water and causing them to rotate, split and no longer bear weight.
• One bridge piling has a split at the top of the pile, but it is providing some support.
• A second pile has been pushed completely out and no longer supports the bridge.
• A third pile has split, and only half the pile is providing support.
• A fourth pile has deterioration with only a three-inch diameter section remaining about six feet below the bridge. The outer pile section has broken.
• There is soil loss behind a backwall.
• There is a large void underneath the roadway on the east side the bridge

“We cannot predict when the…backwall lateral loads will complete fail…causing the bridge the collapse,” engineer Bart Hendricks wrote in his report. “We also cannot predict when the roadway over the void on the southeast corner will collapse”

The age of the bridge was not provided to the engineer, but he determined the timber pilings may be at or beyond the typical life of 30 years. “A better long-term financial decision may be to replace this structure rather than perform repairs,” Hendricks wrote.

Mott McDonald engineers also recommended that the town perform bridge inspections for all bridges that are not inspected by the Florida Department of Transportation. Those inspections are required every two years for longer bridges by the Federal Highway Administration. The town has not moved forward with the inspections.

Photos/graphics  for and by NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.