Work continues on a new bridge that will replace the B.B. Comer Bridge in Scottsboro, Ala.BY THE NUMBERS• $54.9 million: Total project cost• 3,710 feet: Bridge length• 42 feet 9 inches: Width of each span• 57 feet: Navigation height• 350 feet: Navigation widthSource: Alabama Department of Transportation
When the colors of fall 2015 on Sand Mountain become the backdrop for the Alabama Highway 35 bridge over the Tennessee River at Scottsboro, the $54.9 million project to replace the 84-year-old B.B. Comer Bridge should be complete, state officials say.
The project has been underway since September 2007, and now crews are well into the third and final phase of the project, Alabama Department of Transportation first division engineer Johnny Harris said Thursday.
Completion is projected for October 2015.
"We've had two previous projects that did the north third, and then we did a second project that did the second portion of the bridge over the channel," Harris said. "Crews are currently working on deep-water foundations for the final two piers of the bridge."
At each end of the project, work continues on the approaches where the individual northbound and southbound bridge spans connect with the shoreline.
As the end of the third phase nears, crews will be preparing to demolish the old steel truss bridge downstream of the new spans.
"We're looking forward to it being complete," Jackson County Commission Chairman Matthew Hodges said.
"All that is going to work hand in hand to be a huge asset for us for industrial, economic and commercial development, and I know citizens here locally will be glad to have that back up and running," he said.
Hodges said there are plans to four-lane Highway 35 over Sand Mountain toward Fort Payne to make all the main routes into Scottsboro four lanes wide.
The B.B. Comer Bridge has been the target of preservation efforts that began gaining momentum after it was named to 2013's Top Rated Unique Savable Structures, or TRUSS, list, according to bridgehunter.com. The span over the Tennessee River is the last of 15 memorial bridges built by the Alabama State Bridge Corp. starting in 1927, said bridgehunter.com founder James Baughn.
Hodges said the effort seemed to have "lost some steam."
The Grinnell, Iowa-based North Skunk River Greenbelt Association and "Workin' Bridges" is a preservation group that seeks to save bridges all over the country, including the one at Scottsboro.
"We're hoping that there will be some new developments soon," Executive Director Julie Bowers said Friday. Bowers wouldn't elaborate but said she might be able to announce something soon.
Friends of the B.B. Comer Bridge foundation member Lallie Leighton said Friday that "we haven't given up yet."
Harris said one issue is that the state wanted a public entity to become involved in ownership and to establish a reserve fund for maintenance of around $5 million.
Meanwhile, Harris said the replacement project will continue steadily toward next fall's completion date.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.