FOLEY – Pedestrian bridges along Scenic 98 in Fairhope and Daphne should soon be getting repairs to fix rotting wooden walkways and rails.
The Baldwin County Commission will go out for bids to fix four bridges on the highway. The estimated cost of the work is $300,000.
The bridges are at Red Gully, Rock Creek, Fly Creek and an unnamed stream.
At a Feb. 26 work session, County Commissioner Charles “Skip” Gruber said the bridges, which were built in 2006, should not have deteriorated so soon.
“The bridges are not that old,” Gruber said.
County Engineer Joey Nunnally said the bridges were built using a new type of treated lumber.
“The EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) got involved with treated lumber around this time period,” Nunnally said. “They got away from that they called CCA treatment to MCA treatment. During that transition, the MCA treatment was not perfected, and they didn’t get the results that they wanted.”
Nunnally said the new bid specifications call for two bids using different types of lumber. He said both kinds of lumber will last longer than the wood used in the current bridges.
