7th Street Bridge plans put on hold
June 3, 2020
Sheila Harris
Sheila Harris
Cassville utility workers clean up approach to 7th Street bridge in preparation for possible future project.
Removal of old pavement on the west side of the former 7th Street bridge in Cassville took place last week.
“Without enough funds to move forward with the construction of a new bridge, we’re at a standstill,” Public Works Director, David Brock, said.
According to Brock, after the 2017 flood which damaged the bridge beyond repair, a FEMA grant of $39,000 fell far short of the bids received for reconstruction cost, so with FEMA’s approval, the funds were spent on other street repair projects.
“Other sources of funding for a new bridge may become available in the future,” Brock continued, “but, for the time being, we’re just cleaning up the approaches on both sides of the creek and will sow some grass seed.”
According to Brock, future plans for a bridge are uncertain.
“After a hydrological analysis of the area, it’s been recommended that we construct something that will allow the water below the bridge to flow more freely, so we don’t run into issues with backups of debris which have caused damage to previous structures,” he added. “In order to do that, we would have to build the roadbed up considerably.”
In the past, the city had kicked around the idea of constructing a pedestrian bridge across the creek, but even that, Brock says, would require quite a bit of elevation in order for it to withstand flooding.
“It’s not a realistic possibility in the near-term,” he said. “And, even if it were, there would be better places to construct a pedestrian bridge than on 7th Street. So, for now, we’re just trying to improve appearances.”
“Without enough funds to move forward with the construction of a new bridge, we’re at a standstill,” Public Works Director, David Brock, said.
According to Brock, after the 2017 flood which damaged the bridge beyond repair, a FEMA grant of $39,000 fell far short of the bids received for reconstruction cost, so with FEMA’s approval, the funds were spent on other street repair projects.
“Other sources of funding for a new bridge may become available in the future,” Brock continued, “but, for the time being, we’re just cleaning up the approaches on both sides of the creek and will sow some grass seed.”
According to Brock, future plans for a bridge are uncertain.
“After a hydrological analysis of the area, it’s been recommended that we construct something that will allow the water below the bridge to flow more freely, so we don’t run into issues with backups of debris which have caused damage to previous structures,” he added. “In order to do that, we would have to build the roadbed up considerably.”
In the past, the city had kicked around the idea of constructing a pedestrian bridge across the creek, but even that, Brock says, would require quite a bit of elevation in order for it to withstand flooding.
“It’s not a realistic possibility in the near-term,” he said. “And, even if it were, there would be better places to construct a pedestrian bridge than on 7th Street. So, for now, we’re just trying to improve appearances.”
