Grant's Mill Road bridge

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The Grant's Mill Road bridge, built in 1935, is a 110-foot long two-lane bridge for Grant's Mill Road over Lake Purdy. The bridge was designed for a maximum vehicle weight of 6,000 pounds.

Weight limits

An emergency bridge inspection on June 7, 2002 discovered some areas of severe corrosion and resulted in a recommendation to schedule monthly re-inspections and to strictly enforce weight limits. Those limits require fire trucks from the Cahaba Valley Fire Department to detour around the lake to reach the Zeigler Road area.

In order to help enforce limits on trucks using the bridge, the city of Birmingham installed PVC "headache bars" at each end of the bridge in 2003. These were replaced with orange barrels in September 2007, in concert with more active police supervision of the bridge's approach. A month later 1" thick steel tubes weighing 200 to 300 pounds were installed in place of the barrels as a "last-ditch effort" to avoid having to close the bridge. Mayor Bernard Kincaid threatened to close the bridge unless haulers paid heed to the warnings. In December 2009 acting mayor Roderick Royal ordered the bridge closed pending implementation of a better means of controlling misuse.

Replacement

Replacing the corroded steel deck is expected to cost as much as $700,000. Though the superstructure has corroded, the bridge's concrete piers are judged to be in good shape. In April 2008 Shelby County and Jefferson County jointly offered to provide crews to replace the bridge deck if the City of Birmingham provided the materials, which are estimated at approximately $110,000. In December 2009 the city agreed to the deal and began soliciting proposals for a prefabricated steel bridge deck. Construction is expected to begin in the Spring of 2010.

References

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  • MacDonald, Ginny (August 31, 2007) "Kincaid threatens to close bridge." Birmingham News
  • MacDonald, Ginny (October 13, 2007) "'Super headache bars' up on Grants Mill Road bridge." Birmingham News
  • MacDonald, Ginny (April 3, 2008) "Jefferson and Shelby counties offer Birmingham help to replace Grants Mill Road bridge." Birmingham News
  • MacDonald, Ginny (December 9, 2009) "Alabama officials say keep Lake Purdy bridge closed." Birmingham News
  • MacDonald, Ginny (December 31, 2009) "Birmingham, counties to replace Grants Mill Road Bridge." Birmingham News
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