Painting of the steel portion of the Old Highway 82 bridge and installing the boardwalk and lighting are the three steps remaining before the Columbus landmark is completely restored and ready for public use again, City Engineer Kevin Stafford said.
Though previously projected to finish significantly ahead of schedule, Stafford said representatives from the project’s general contractor, Starkville-based Malouf Construction, told him Wednesday they expect to be done with the project in mid-July, still a couple of weeks ahead of the initial end-of-July contract deadline. He said it’s probable the project could be completed before then.
The $2.5 million restoration was funded by a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation that could only be used for the purpose of rehabilitating historical structures, plus matches of $133,000 apiece from the city, Lowndes County and the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Stafford said it’s possible the project may run slightly over budget, but by no more than $150,000, or five percent of the initial cost estimate. Any overruns would be covered by MDOT at little or no cost to the city, he said.
A slight setback that is causing the projected finish to be closer to the deadline is the difficulty of the primer coat of paint adhering to the water-blasted steel portion of what will be a slate-colored bridge. As opposed to sandblasting, which removes all coatings of paint down to the raw metal and is costly, water blasting just removes all loose material, Stafford said. An option that is being considered is skipping applying that primer coat and instead applying an intermediate one before a top layer. The city is waiting for MDOT approval to make that change before it can go forward, he said.
“The project is still moving ahead. The concrete walking surfaces have been put in and the light fixtures have gone up,” Stafford said. “The existing paint used on the (steel portions of) the bridge years ago is not allowing this paint system to work as well with it, but there’s no need to make a mountain out of a molehill because it’s not a major issue.”
A ribbon-cutting date has not been finalized.
Stafford said the city has already received interest in multiple parties who want to hold events on the bridge after it’s complete and open to the public.
“It’s a historical landmark…and the money became available to rehabilitate it. Knowing the success of the Riverwalk, this is going to be another focal point of downtown that will bring people to Columbus,” Stafford said. “This is something people can see and enjoy along with the Riverwalk and the new soccer complex. It’s another notch on our belt from a historical standpoint and shows that we take care of what we’ve got.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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