#letsbuildabridge !!!!

Unfortunately, we received quite a bit of rain in the last few weeks which brought the water level up very quickly.  The water was too high to hit our target date of December 1 to begin demolition of the bridge.  But after meetings with our contractor, we are ready to start on December 7.  

THE COVE 9 BRIDGE WILL BE CLOSED DOWN STARTING MONDAY, DECEMBER 7.  

This means that all traffic will have to be detoured around to the dam road.  No vehicles, cars, golf carts, etc, no foot traffic from Big Bear to Itawamba.  If you have a longer vehicle (i.e. an RV, etc) you may want to check immediately that you will be able to get it across the dam road and the modified spillway.  If your vehicle is not able to use the modified spillway, make sure you park those vehicles on the east side of the lake by Monday if you expect to use them this winter/spring.  If you are having work done at your house, make sure your contractors are aware of these limitations.

Construction Details
Demolition is expected to take 1-2 weeks.  After that, Brenneke will begin foundation work that is scheduled to take approximately 3-4 weeks.  This is the most weather-dependent part of the schedule.  Once the foundations are up and out of the water, the lake level will cease to become a major factor in construction.  Another high-risk weather issue is the pouring of the bridge deck which we will need a few warm days to complete that concrete work.   Only after we are able to actually drive across the bridge will we be able to close the valve and begin the filling of the lake as we cannot afford any high waters to close the dam road without the new bridge being open to traffic.

As we’ve always known, building a bridge in the winter is not the ideal time, but for Indian Hills, it is the ONLY time.  Be assured that the bridge committee and our partners Cochran Engineering and Brenneke Construction have planned and planned and are committed to do what we can do to build this bridge as quickly as possible.  But all will have to understand that the weather is out of our hands.  So pray for a mild winter, with less than usual precipitation (opposite of what the forecasts are telling us-what do they know anyway!)  

Any questions, email to bridgecommittee@ilpoa.org.  

Thank you,

Brian Nisbet
Project Manager