Flint Creek bridge suspended in limbo

GENTRY -- Council members learned at their Feb. 5 meeting that the Dawn Hill Road bridge damaged in the April floods will not be repaired with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency but may be repaired with money from the Federal Highway Administration.

According to Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor, the city had been waiting for approval of a plan from FEMA but was recently told the bridge is not covered under FEMA disaster relief plans but under FHWA.

Johnston told the council, "It took FEMA nine months to tell us the bridge was not (covered) under FEMA." He said he was then told, "That happens all the time."

Though city officials were disappointed by the setback, they learned that coverage under FHWA is actually better than FEMA, with the FHWA paying up to 80 percent of costs to repair or replace rather than the 75 percent which FEMA will pay.

Timewise, Johnston estimated the city hadn't lost much if any time since all the preliminary work was done to submit project paperwork. He said the city had everything ready and submitted a bridge replacement plan to FHWA which would remove the current weight limits for the bridge and possibly give it a little more elevation to avoid flood damage in the future. A replacement plan, it was estimated, would provide more years of service to the city than repair of the existing bridge.

April flood waters from the Flint Creek became backed up when logs and debris got caught under the bridge and flowed around the ends of the bridge, causing scouring of the bridge's supports on the north side of the bridge.

The bridge remains closed until repairs are made or a replacement bridge is built, but Johnston said he would also explore the possibility of some temporary repairs to get the bridge back open until it is replaced or repaired.

Johnston was asked about the city's steps to prevent people from driving through the creek, and he said there are heavy barricades at the bridge but the city cannot regulate people crossing the creek on adjacent private property. He mentioned a truck getting stuck while attempting to drive through the creek. He said placing barricades to keep people from entering private property near the bridge would likely just cause people to enter private property farther away from the bridge.