Construction continues for new SR-75 bridge in DeKalb County

LAKEVIEW, Ala. (WHNT) — On Monday morning, workers installed the final girder for the new SR-75 bridge.

The steel beams, known as girders, will support the new bridge over Town Creek in DeKalb County, east of the Marshall County line.

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The $13.7 million bridge will be longer, taller, and wider than the old bridge, which was built in 1942. The original 82-year-old is 280 feet long, 29 feet wide and stands 54 feet above the creek. In contrast, the new bridge will be 715 feet long, 38.5 feet wide and stand 75 feet above the creek.

The new bridge’s design will reduce steep vertical curves on both sides of the bridge.

During the last two months, contractors installed 32 girders that weighed up to 44 tons each. Cranes raised each girder into a position where workers secured them to one another. Each splice required about 660 bolts.

The task at hand now is to tighten roughly 23,000 bolts to a specified tension. After that, contractors will construct the bridge deck, rails, and roadway segments that will approach the bridge before demolishing the old bridge.

The old bridge will remain open to traffic during construction. The Alabama Department of Transportation anticipates project completion in about a year.

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