Columbia Public Works addressing residents’ concerns on Creasy Springs bridge

Residents living off of North Creasy Springs Road near the Bear Creek Trail reached out to ABC 17 News Friday with their concerns over a maintenance project.

Columbia Public Works engineer manager Richard Stone said crews installed two steel plates in the northbound lane of the bridge about six weeks ago.

“There’s a couple small holes that developed in the deck of the bridge,” he said. “They’re not structural in nature, but we wanted to make sure we plated them with steel plates so they don’t turn into a structural problem.”

Stone said the bridge, which was built in the 1980s, is experiencing normal deterioration for its age. He said the bridge is still safe, but crews lowered the weight limit on the bridge to help keep the temporary steel plates in place.

ABC 17 News on Friday talked to residents living near the bridge who said large trucks ignore the weight limit signs and continue to drive over the bridge. Residents also said drivers go into the bridge’s southbound lane to avoid the plates.

“We recognize that people don’t like driving over steel plates, but that’s something that’s maintaining the structural integrity of the bridge,” Stone said.

Other people living nearby said they’re concerned for when it gets colder and the bridge starts to get slick.

Stone said Columbia Public Works has hired a consultant to look at different options for the maintenance project. He said crews are expected to be on site next week.

“If there’s a long-term fix that takes a little bit of extra time and we think that’s the best overall option, we would wait, probabl, to do that next year,” he said. “Then we would do something as an interim fix at a lower cost option for this winter.”