Work is expected to begin soon on Richard Johnson Road after the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors on Monday awarded the project to J&M Inc. The project, which will cost $255,689.55, will involve demolishing the current bridge and replacing it with a concrete box culvert.

County Road Manager Rush Mayatt said J&M Inc.’s bid, which was the lowest of six bidders, came in roughly $100,000 under the engineering estimate for the project. The company has previously done work for the county, he said, and recently finished a project to replace two bridges on Lizelia Road with concrete box culverts.

Supervisor Kyle Rutledge, who serves as board president, said he was happy to see multiple contractors submit bids for the bridge project. Richard Johnson Road is a smaller contract, he said, and small contracts don’t always attract competitive bids like the county would like.

Following the board’s approval, Mayatt said his department will issue a notice to proceed to the contractor. Work will likely begin in late August or early September, he said, with the project taking around 75 working days to finish.

The bridge project is being funded from the county’s Local System Bridge Project funds. The state gives counties an allocation of LSBP funds every board term — which are four years — to go toward repairs and replacement of bridges on county roads. Supervisors started a new board term in January with an LSBP allocation of approximately $3.1 million.

Also on Monday, the Board of Supervisors approved the Road Department working off of the county’s right of way at 11704 Burrage Road. Lauderdale County Emergency Management Director Odie Barrett said the project involves repairs to a road leading to one of the state’s Mississippi Wireless Information Network, or MSWIN, towers. MSWIN is the statewide emergency dispatch radio network established after Hurricane Katrina.

Barrett said the Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission, which oversees the MSWIN system, is requesting the county go in and grade the road so technicians can access the tower for maintenance and repair.