Bridge construction on schedule

New Spanker Creek span set to open in May, official says

NWA Democrat-Gazette/SPENCER TIREY A sign at the Spanker Creek Bridge near Bella Vista shows it will soon be under construction. Benton County about to hold construction meetings on the bridge's replacement and work will close the road for six months or more. Which will detour school traffic and drivers who use the road as a shortcut between Bella Vista and Bentonville.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/SPENCER TIREY A sign at the Spanker Creek Bridge near Bella Vista shows it will soon be under construction. Benton County about to hold construction meetings on the bridge's replacement and work will close the road for six months or more. Which will detour school traffic and drivers who use the road as a shortcut between Bella Vista and Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE — Work on a new Spanker Creek bridge remains on schedule for a May opening, a Benton County official said.

The bridge, which is on Spanker Road north of Benton County 40, closed Dec. 3. The bridge had been repaired before, so a new bridge needed to be built, County Judge Barry Moehring said.

Flooding damaged the bridge in April 2017 when the creek topped it and washed away the asphalt, leaving the concrete structure exposed. The pavement was replaced as a temporary measure.

The old bridge was a 60-foot span on six box culverts. The new bridge will span 102 feet and raise the north and south approaches, according to the county.

Josh Beam, county engineer, oversees work on all county bridges. Foundation work at Spanker Creek bridge took a chunk of time last week, he said.

“There were no problems with demolition, and we’ve moved to construction of the new bridge. The contractor is on schedule, and the weather is favorable,” Beam said.

The bridge should open May 14 if no problems pop up in the coming months, Beam said.

The project will cost from $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Former County Judge Bob Clinard secured a $500,000 grant from the Economic Development Council to help pay for the bridge, Moehring said. Crossland Heavy Construction is the contractor, Moehring said.

Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie said drivers use Spanker Road to avoid traffic congestion on Bella Vista Way through town. State and county traffic information Christie provided shows the daily count on U.S. 71 at the Arkansas-Missouri border was 23,000 in 2017. U.S. 71 is Bella Vista Way through Bella Vista. Just south of Mercy Way, the count increased to 41,000.

A Road Department traffic count last year as part of the bridge replacement showed the count about 10,500. Spanker Road connects to West McNelly Road, which connects to Bella Vista Way.

Chris DeWitt, the Bentonville School District’s transportation director, said bus drivers have used alternate routes since at least 2017. Eighteen buses are affected by the bridge closing, he said.

“We’ve had zero glitches,” he said. “It’s had zero impact on us.”

The county has kept the school district up to date on all aspects of the project, De-Witt said.

“Their communication has been remarkable,” he said. “We’ve known every step as this has gone forward.”

Channing Barker, communications director for the county, said getting the message out early helped residents not be caught off guard by the closing and know what alternate routes were available.

“I’ve been surprised by how few complaints we’ve had,” Moehring said. “I think we took our medicine on that when we let people know beforehand.”

What complaints there have been were mostly sent to the county’s Facebook page, Barker said. A few residents asked the county to do patching work for potholes near the new bridge. The requests from the residents came in on the evening of Dec. 18 and were fixed the next day by Road Department crews, Barker said.

Jay Frasier, who oversees the Road Department, said the potholes were caused by wear and tear at a few intersections.

“There are a lot of variables that go into what happens at the site on a particular day,” Moehring said. “I am more concerned about the end date.”

Other bridge work

The Arkansas Department of Transportation is doing design work for Osage Bridge on Old Highway 68 between Siloam Springs and Tontitown. The bridge was built in 1935 and is 452 feet long. The estimated cost is $3 million, of which 98 percent will be covered by federal and state aid funds and 2 percent from county funds.

Source: Benton County

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