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This narrow span of north Lake Tuscaloosa provides local residents with fast access to shopping and Highway 43

Construction crews are fast approaching an 80-day deadline to finish the new Bull Slough Bridge. A bridge over this narrow backwater of Lake Tuscaloosa has made travel difficult for dozens of local families.

Drilling Problems and Rainy Weather Delay Completion of the new Bull Slough Bridge

Construction crews will struggle to meet an 80 working day deadline for completing the Bull Slough Bridge.

Local residents have been forced onto a lengthy detour down an old logging road ever since the area's only bridge across the backwaters of Lake Tuscaloosa was damaged last May. Brasfield and Gorrie Incorporated began the project on November 18th, and is under state contract to finish in 80 working days. Those working days don't include holidays, weekends or days with bad weather. Tuscaloosa County assistant engineer Allan Springer says the new "tentative" completion date stands in mid-April.

"While they were drilling for the concrete shafts, there were some problems with some rock pieces that were breaking up in the drill bit. I think that may have slowed down the progress on that phase of the bridge," said Springer.

Springer says that rainy weather has made it impossible to work on the bridge several days in recent weeks. He also says he is unsure of when the 80 day time period will expire. If Brasfield and Gorrie fails to complete the 1-point-1 million dollar project (a revised figure from last story), it will be assessed late penalties. If the company finishes the work ahead of schedule, it gets a bonus. Brasfield and Gorrie has proven it can work quickly in the past. It oversaw the emergency replacement of the I-65/59 interchange near downtown Birmingham that was destroyed during a fatal accident involving a fuel tanker truck in winter of 2002.

The Bull Slough community isn't the only one to suffer because of damaged or condemned bridges. Alabama has nearly 3,000 bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient. More than half of those bridges can't be crossed school buses, fire trucks or ambulances.

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