FISH RIVER — Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

The often misquoted line first used by Bette Davis in “All About Eve” (Davis actually said “bumpy night”) seems appropriate when driving across the new U.S. Highway 98 bridge over Fish River.

Settling of the bridge approaches has created a pronounced bump in the road, particularly for eastbound drivers as they reach the span.

Vince Calametti, assistant division engineer of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) Ninth Division, said, “Typically at bridge ends, we have a little settlement, but we haven’t finished our final paving. There has been some settlement there.”

The subcontractor will need to level around 400 feet out from the western bridge abutment, Calametti said, when the company returns to roll the final wearing layer.

The final asphalt contains a smaller stone, he added, and it is a lighter mix than the foundation layer now acting as a road surface. Calametti pointed out that the final wearing layer is more resistant to water permeation.

It is not yet known whether the eastern end of the bridge will need quite as much attention.

“We’ll have to do some leveling on the other side, but it doesn’t sound like it’s as pronounced,” he said. “It should be done in two to three weeks.”

All that depends on when the subcontractor returns. Calametti said it’s a matter of scheduling them at a time when they can finish their work.

Part of the problem, he noted, is planning the leveling and final paving work around the removal of the 1954 bridge, which is nearing the last phase. Because both projects are in very close physical proximity at the eastern end of the new bridge, delays are possible.

Calametti said another subcontractor is waiting on fencing materials so they can compete work on a hiking, walking and biking trail on the bridge’s north side. A wall separates the fitness lane from the traffic lanes.

Also waiting to be wrapped up are a walking and biking path from the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to the public boat launch at the old LuLu’s site and a trailhead on the east side of Fish River. Calametti said the latter would give the Baldwin County Trailblazers a starting point to build upon once the Eastern Shore Trail is complete.

Work on the new, $10.25 million bridge began in the summer of 2004. The old span served an average of 7,000 vehicles each day.