COVINGTON, Ga. — After more than a year of construction that included a worker's death, the new Access Road bridge in west Newton should open in time for the start of Thanksgiving week traffic.
GDOT announced on its Facebook page today that it expects the new replacement bridge over the Yellow River to open by the end of day on Thursday, Nov. 17, "pending any bad weather."
Contractor Georgia Bridge and Concrete has completed the new structure and roadway approaches for the replacement project that runs parallel to I-20 about 200 yards east of the Exit 88 interchange with Crowell and Almon roads in west Newton County, the agency said.
Its opening follows the October 2021 fatal collapse of the old bridge on the same site during work to dismantle it to make way for the new structure.
The $3.065 million project replaced a bridge that was built in 1937 and linked Covington with Atlanta as part of U.S. Hwy. 278 before I-20 was completed in the mid-1960s. It carried more than 9,000 vehicles per day before it was closed.
Days after work began to dismantle parts of the 85-year-old steel and concrete structure, one worker was killed and two others injured when a portion broke apart beneath them and and construction equipment struck them as they fell into the Yellow River.
A four-month construction delay followed as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated and later determined that Georgia Bridge and a subcontractor, B&D Concrete Cutting Inc., failed to follow required safety standards that could have prevented the collapse.
The investigation determined an overstressed, 70-foot section of the bridge fell about 50 feet and a concrete saw weighing more than 1,700 pounds struck and killed Atlanta resident Demario Battle, 33, who was employed by B&D Concrete Cutting.
OSHA cited the companies for not ensuring a competent person had performed an engineering survey on the weights of equipment and workers that could be allowed on the structure before the dismantling project began.
The federal agency in February allowed Georgia Bridge to resume the old bridge's demolition and complete the new bridge's construction.
GDOT engineers had determined the bridge was "structurally deficient" which required it to be replaced, a news release stated.
