Bridges are receiving more attention from Gilmer County government.
“We’ve been getting inspections on those bridges all along, every other year, said Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris.
In the past, the state would let the county know a bridge needed to have acceptable weight limits lowered and the county would post signs.
Two things changed the focus of county officials. First, the Lower Cartecay Bridge was closed by the GDOT. Second, former commissioner Travis Crouch approached commissioners about two bridges on Rock Creek Road which could no longer handle service trucks delivering goods such as propane to homeowners.
“That got our attention,” Paris said.
Loy Jarrett, a civil engineer who works part time for the county, was tasked with taking the inspection reports and checking each bridge. He then prioritized each bridge based on repair needs, location and possible detour routes.
“I tasked him with going out to each and every bridge,” Paris said.
Four bridges were identified as priorities for the county. Two bridges on Rock Creek Road along with a bridge on Boardtown Road at Whitepath Road and another on Old Highway 5 will be the focus of county repairs this year.
“When I say critical, I don’t mean critical in the sense they are about to cave in,” said Paris.
Options being considered for the two Rock Creek Road bridges, the first two on the list, are rehabilitating the current bridges, using prefabricated concrete box culverts or using metal culverts.
“We are proceeding to get these four corrected. And by corrected, we mean no load limit on them,” Paris said. “Our objective is to have all four of those done this year.”
Once these four bridges are finished, county officials will work their way down the list, working on a set number each year.
Inspections are done on 73 bridges in Gilmer County every other year.
No official estimates have been given about the costs of each option for the bridges. Paris, Jarrett and the county road department administration are in the process of meeting about the options and logistics.
“We just want to start giving the bridges the same attention the roads get,” Paris said.