SOPERTON, Ga. — Georgia drivers may be in for another detour at the top of 2022 as crews work to replace the Treutlen County I-16 overpass bridge hit back in July.
According to a post on the Georgia Department of Transportation Facebook page Thursday, a $3.58 million construction contract has been awarded to Georgia Bridge and Concrete.
GDOT says the work will ramp up in the first quarter of 2022 and is expected to take around six months with the goal of being done by summer 2022.
Here’s what they’ll be doing to the overpass bridge carrying GA 86:
- Full replacement, including old substructure, with concrete beams.
- The roadway will be raised one-foot to accommodate the beams.
GDOT says it also awarded a maintenance contract to resurface four miles of US 221 that was damaged during this summer’s detour.
An exact start date has not yet been announced for either project.
BACKGROUND
The crash that shut down part of I-16 happened early morning on Thursday, July 15.
According to a Georgia State Patrol accident report, the back of a dump truck was raised and smashed into the Highway 86 overpass. The impact shoved parts of the bridge back several feet.
The driver blamed it on an equipment malfunction. Neither he nor his passenger were injured, but the wreck caused two days of detours through rural Treutlen County.
State crews completed demolishing and removing the bridge by late Friday, which allowed I-16 to fully open, but left that stretch of Highway 86 closed.