COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton County has reopened County Road 213 near Ga. Hwy. 36 after state inspectors Tuesday approved repairs done to the highway's Alcovy River bridge.

Motorists wanting to travel either way on CR 213 can use the bridge again after being detoured from May 9 until Tuesday morning, June 14, on routes that included Henderson Mill and Dixie roads.

The 66-year-old structure was approved for reopening by the Georgia Department of Transportation late Tuesday afternoon after repair work overseen by the county was completed, said Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) spokesman Gil Pound.

Newton County crews also resurfaced and restriped the part of the highway near the bridge, county officials said.

GDOT bridge inspectors closed the concrete-and-steel structure to traffic May 9 after finding enough corrosion in the support structure to keep it from meeting minimum state standards.

A regularly scheduled, specialized inspection found "extensive" corrosion where four steel pilings meet one of the structure's bent caps — meaning support of the bridge is not up to standard, Pound said.

An average of about 3,100 vehicles per day travel on the road, which is a major east-west route connecting central Newton with Mansfield and Newborn, according to information from GDOT.

Pound said the state's bridge inspection unit is under the GDOT Office of Bridge Maintenance and Design. It checks most Georgia bridges on a two-year cycle and conducts specialized inspections every four years, he said. 

The bridge, built in 1956, is less than a mile east of Georgia Hwy. 36 near the entrance to the Sautee Bluff neighborhood and the historic Starrsville community. 

It is about 349 feet long and has a posted load limit of between 18 and 27 tons depending on the vehicle, according to GDOT records.  

The May 9 closing followed a six-month closure of an eastern section of CR 213 in 2021 for replacement of a separate bridge over West Bear Creek near Mansfield.