Lauderdale County officials are working to address problems with erosion in two areas, along with repairs to two bridges in the northeast corner of the county.

In a work session Thursday, Road Manager Rush Mayatt told the Board of Supervisors two timber bridges along Oxford Road are in bad shape and need to be addressed. The county has made temporary repairs to the structures, he said, but more work is needed to bring them back into good condition.

“Right now, I’ve got Engineering Plus, as well as Ryan (Mosley) and myself, exploring all the options that we have,” he said. “Engineering Plus runs some hydraulic information on both of those structures to see what would work in a 10-year, 25-year, 100-year flood. I have all that, and like I said, we’re currently looking for best options.”

Unfortunately, Mayatt said, the two bridges are not part of the State Aid or Local System Bridge Project networks and do not qualify for funds under those two programs. State Aid and LSBP funds are allocated to counties every four years and make up the bulk of funding available for bridge replacement work.

In addition to the temporary repairs, the county has posted both bridges at extremely low weight capacities, with one at four tons and the other at five tons, Mayatt said. The area, however, sees frequent traffic from logging trucks, and posted weight limits are almost always ignored.

“It does remove liability from Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors because we do have them posted,” he said. “Now whether they pay attention and abide by it, that’s a whole other conversation.”

Further complicating the project is the location of the bridges, which are located less than a mile apart. Mayatt said there are some residents living in between the two bridges, which means the county will need to preserve residents’ access to their homes while the repairs are underway.

Currently, Mayatt said he and his team are working to identify the best way to go about addressing the two problem bridges. Once more information has been collected, he said he will draw up a plan to bring to the Board of Supervisors to approve.

County Administrator Chris Lafferty said supervisors could also consider declaring the project an emergency due to the impact on the timber industry in Lauderdale County if those bridges are closed. Using an emergency declaration allows the county to move forward with two quotes on a project instead of advertising the project for 30 days for contractors to bid.

Erosion

In addition to bridge work, Mayatt said he is also working to find funding to address erosion at two sights throughout the county. The projects are needed at Velma Young Community Center, where erosion is threatening a fence put up by the county to help keep children from the nearby Magnolia Middle and Parkview Elementary schools safe, as well as a site on Ponta Hills Road.

The Ponta Hills site has been an issue for some time, Mayatt said, but heavy rain last week caused a significant shift in the soil, which will make the area erode much faster.

“It’s rapidly going to get worse,” he said.

Mayatt told supervisors he planned to submit both projects to the National Resources Conservation Service for funding under its Emergency Watershed Protection grant program. The grant, if awarded, will pay 80% of the cost of the project, with the county responsible for the remaining 20%.

If one or both of the projects do not get funded by the NRCS, Mayatt said his backup plan is to ask Pat Harrison Waterway District to help through its drainage project program. That program will cover 50% of the project up to $50,000, he said, which is enough to do the Velma Young project but likely not enough for Ponta Hills.

“I’m going to try to work that the best I can to get the most assistance that we can for both of those,” he said.