The Bulloch County commissioners last week awarded a $924,900 construction contract for replacement of a bridge-like culvert on Nevils-Denmark Road and a $387,300 design contract for replacement of a closed bridge on Cypress Lake Road, as well as an application for a $2.25 million state grant expected to more than pay for that project.

A portion of Nevils-Denmark Road just south of State Route 46 has been closed since floodwaters from Tropical Storm Debby washed the culvert out in August. In an unrelated occurrence, a portion of previously heavily trafficked Cypress Lake Road has been closed since a vehicle hit the 50-year-old Dry Branch Bridge in an accident the evening of Feb. 25. Brad Deal, April 15 during in his final appearance at a commissioners meeting as county engineer, presented these steps toward reopening both roads. After seven years in the county job, Deal had resigned effective Friday is now returning to work for the city of Statesboro, this time as its public works and engineering director.

With commissioners’ 6-0 approval of the construction contract to Reeves Construction for the Nevils-Denmark Road work, that project, with a 120-day timeline, is on track to meet Assistant County Engineer Ron Nelson’s previously prediction that the road could be open by late summer. Also during the April 15 meeting, interim County Manager Randy Tillman announced that Nelson, who previously retired from a career with the Georgia Department of Transportation, will now be serving as interim county engineer.

The Nevils-Denmark culvert replacement will be funded for now from the county’s Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or T-SPLOST, revenue. But the  engineers reported that the  county has applied for mitigation assistance funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Georgia’s state-level analogue, GEMA.

“We are still going through the process with FEMA and GEMA,” Deal told commissioners. “All indications seem to point to we’re going to get reimbursement of more than 50 percent of the cost of this project. We don’t have the exact figures at this point from them, but we’re planning to move ahead with the project at this time, utilizing T-SPLOST funds.”

Commissioner Nick Newkirk asked how this project compares to the previously completed Brannen Pond Road drainage restoration. That project, following damage to the road caused by an August 2023 hurricane, was long in the study and planning. But once awarded to a construction contractor, the work was completed ahead of schedule, about 15 months after the storm.

“Very similar,” Deal said. “We’ve got a 120-day contract time on this contract, which I believe is the same as what Brannen-Pond Road was, but one difference in the project is that this box culvert will be cast in place, as opposed to the one at Brannen Pond Road, which was precast … I think that may affect the cost a little bit but not so much the schedule.”

On Nevils-Denmark Road, where the flood waters caused the old “double-barrel” culvert with its two 6-by-10-foot passages to settle and slightly rotate, breaking the pavement, Reeves is to build a “triple-barrel” culvert with three 8-by-7 channels. Like the old culvert, the new structure will feature “wing walls” to either side, but the plan will add an “apron” below the culvert to resist erosion there.

Reeves’ $924,900 price was the lowest from four sealed bids the county received. The three companies offered prices ranged from $1.1 million to $1.44 million. Reeves’ tasks will include removing the old culvert and damaged pavement, as well as building the new structure, handling the earthwork and paving and installing guardrails.

Deal said the FEMA and GEMA reimbursement should fully cover “the cost of putting it back the way that it was,” but the county’s plan exceeds that, upgrading to better survive future storms.

Cypress Lake Road

Since the damage to the bridge over Dry Branch on Cypress Lake Road was caused by a vehicle crash, repairs there are not eligible for FEMA funding. But the county has found a source of state funding.

As Deal explained to commissioners, the Georgia Department of Transportation, or GDOT, is again making a “supplemental” round of funding  available to counties and cities. Each year, local governments receive Local Maintenance and  Improvement Grants, or LMIG, funding, which the county directs toward resurfacing and paving. But last year and this, the governor and Legislature have provided additional funds for local governments as Local Road Assistance grants, using the  same formula – based on a county’s or city’s road mileage and population – as for LMIG.

Bulloch County is eligible for $2,247,332, Deal said. As he suggested and the commissioners approved on another 6-0 vote, the county will apply for it by citing the replacement and upgrade of the bridge on Cypress Lake Road as the intended project.

“We were not expecting to get this money,” Deal said. “It was not something we knew was coming, so we felt like it would be a good use of these funds  to put it towards also an issue that we were not expecting.”

Newkirk asked if the bridge can be rebuilt the way the county engineers propose for $2.2 million.

“Right now with our preliminary, very rough estimates, we think that it would be less than that amount,” Deal said.

If any of the GDOT funding allocated to Bulloch County is left, it could go toward another project, he said.

Bridge design contract

Commissioners also approved a $378,300 contract with the Marietta-based firm Heath & Lineback Engineers for engineering and design work on the Cypress Lake Road bridge replacement. The scope of work will include the surveying, hydrologic study, geotechnical investigation, plans and environmental permitting.

This firm was recommended by the county staff, which did not take bids or request quotes from other firms.

Chairman David Bennett asked Deal to explain why county didn’t have to seek bids at this point. Deal noted that the engineering and design work is considered a “professional service,” for which no bids are required under the county purchasing policy. Construction falls under different rules and requires sealed bids. Often, a request for proposals, or RFP, would be sent out for design of a project. But county staff members were familiar with the work of the firm, which has done bridge replacement projects for other counties.

 “We felt that Heath & Lineback was qualified … and this would speed up the process a good bit in terms of getting it under design instead of going through a two- to three-month procurement process,” Deal said.

Still 2 years closed?

But that didn’t shorten the expected overall timeline from his previous prediction of how long that segment of Cypress Lake Road may remain closed and detoured.

“We do think it is a two-year process,” he said. “There is some unknown in the environmental permitting. That does take a little bit of time.”

It’s another case where the intent is to build back better. The 50-year-old bridge, currently closed, had been reduced to an eight-ton, or 16,000-pound, GDOT weight restriction for vehicles, the lowest limit of any bridge in Bulloch County, and local officials have said farm machinery and dump trucks that exceed that weight previously crossed it.

The engineers propose a replacement bridge with no weight restriction. (All bridges have a theoretical weight limit, but for “unrestricted” bridges, this exceeds the rated capacity of vehicles’ axles.) The proposed new bridge would have two 12-foot-wide traffic lanes, plus a 6.5-foot shoulder on each side, barrier walls and guardrails.

“I think it would be much more well-suited for the traffic that goes through that area,” Deal said.