Stephens Co. Bridge Part of “Bridge Bundling” Package

A Stephens County bridge is now slated for replacement sometime in the next few years under a new process designed to accelerate local bridge replacement across the state.

Georgia Department of Transportation officials said the process is called “bridge bundles,” and in this case, it used five design-build contracts that each group four to six bridge replacements geographically.

There were five bridges in northeast Georgia.

Among those is the Bridge on Currahee Lane at North Fork Broad River in Stephens County.

Georgia DOT Spokesperson Katie Strickland said the “bridge bundles” allow a contractor to combine design and construction activities for the bridges in their bundled contract.

“They are what they call off-system bridges, so it is going to make the contractor be a little more efficient,” said Strickland. “They are going to streamline the delivery by combining the design and the construction activities for the bridges that are bundled in this contract.”

There is no set start date for work on the Currahee Lane bridge.

That is because DOT officials said the contractor has up to 1,095 days, or three years, to complete all five bridges in the bundled contract and an offsite detour will be allowed for up to 210 days per bridge in the contract.

Strickland said that information on schedules, lane closures, and detours will be made available in advance of construction activities.

She went on to say that funding for this project came from the transportation legislation passed by the state.

“The total investment on this project was $39.6 million and our first obligation with the funds that are from the TFA, or HB 170, is to enhance local transportation through these types of projects,” said Strickland.

With that $39.6 million, the state is replacing 25 local bridges throughout the state, all using the “bridge bundling” contract method.