DOT says delay in Oglethorpe Bridge opening should be brief

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The Oghethorpe Avenue bridge re-opening will not be completed on time to meet the DOT’s July 22 deadline. The delay is not expected to be extensive. The bridge replacement project began almost a year ago. Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin

ALBANY – The re-opening of the Oglethorpe Boulevard Bridge will come a little later than scheduled, but the big day that commuters have been waiting for is not yet set.

The original date scheduled for drivers to begin crossing the Flint River on the new bridge was originally set for July 22, a year after the old structure was closed for work to begin.

“We’re waiting until we get a little closer to the date,” Georgia Department of Transportation spokesperson Juanita Birmingham said. “We know it’s not going to be July 22. We don’t think it’s going to be much later than that.”

The closing has caused congestion mostly on Broad Avenue, as traffic has been re-routed to the two-lane Broad Avenue bridge a block to the north.

The Oglethorpe Avenue bridge ferries more than 20,000 cars per day on its four lanes and is the primary structure linking east Albany to the downtown area and points west.

The original bridge, completed in 1953, was selected for replacement because of structural issues. It had been rated as being in “fair” condition and in danger of scouring during a DOT assessment. Scouring is an engineering term related to the erosion of soil surrounding a bridge foundation. It occurs when fast-moving water removes sediment from around the bridge foundation, a process that can lead to compromise of the integrity of the structure.

The delay was caused by high water and fast-flowing water during the construction process that affected the contractor’s ability to monitor for endangered mussels in the vicinity of the bridge project, Birmingham said. That delayed work in the water.

“The contractor can’t be in the water at certain times of the year (during mussel) spawning season,” she said. “It’s not unusual for us to have endangered or threatened species on projects, but on this one we had a lot. That’s something that the contractor couldn’t predict.”

The 2025 winter also brought some unusually cold weather, which also affected the construction schedule, Birmingham said.

“As we get a little closer to that (opening) date, we’ll make an announcement (on an opening date),” she said.