Replacement of the U.S. Highway 84 Satilla River Bridge at the Pierce-Ware County line is in its final design stage and the project could be put out for bid in June.
Jill Nagel, public information officer for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), confirmed the $26 million project is about ready to be bid.
The replacement project is a state DOT project, but about $3 million of the total cost will come from the Transportation Investment Act regional sales tax approved by voters in 2018.
The original bridge was first constructed in 1923 but the span was overhauled and widened in 1982 when U.S. Highway 84 was four-laned. A top-stone American Legion memorial at the crown of the bridge pays homage to local war dead from World War I in 1917-1918.
Nagel says current plans are for replacing the main span and overflow bridge next to it. The replacement project is expected to take four years. She said since U.S. 84 is a major east-west traffic artery, plans are to keep the bridge open while construction of the new bridge is taking place at the site.
However, fishing and boating access at the river will be closed for the entire four years of construction for the new bridge.
Alternate boating and fishing access to the Satilla River would be available at the Jamestown Landing in Ware County and at the Georgia Highway 121 Landing at the Pierce-Brantley County line.
