West Tupelo bridge closed after inspections found structural issues

Corrosion on bridge's support pilings prompted engineers to close the bridge

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – The daily traffic commute for thousands who travel to and from west Tupelo will be impacted for some time.

This was after the City announced a 70-year-old bridge on Highway 6 was being closed due to serious structural issues found during recent inspections.

At Steele’s Dive, the lunch rush is the bread and butter of the popular restaurant. But now, customers and employees coming from the west, or heading that way, will have to make a detour.

“Anytime you go from basically having 7,000 cars a day by your business, to basically being on a dead-end street, it’s not good,” said Jason Steele, who was notified Wednesday afternoon that the bridge over Little Coonewah Creek would be closed after inspections found corrosion to the bridges support pilings.

City engineer Dennis Bonds provided photos, which show the corrosion impacting the 70-year-old bridge.

“We don’t have an option, we have got to address this before something terrible happens,” Bonds said.

Detour signs are posted on both sides of the bridge. Each detour will add about 10 or 15 minutes to your route, depending on traffic.

Bonds said engineers would decide whether to repair or replace the bridge.

“We’re in the process of evaluating all possibilities, working with engineering firms. We will see if we can repair this bridge, get it back in service, or if we have to go with a full replacement, demolition of the existing bridge and replacing with a new bridge,” Bonds said.

In the meantime,  Steele understands the safety concerns and said he and other business owners will adapt and hope that customers don’t mind the inconvenience.

“We’re tossing things around, trying to do more things to drive more business as a destination. Obviously, we will have to be a destination now, the convenience factor will be nonexistent for the next year or so,” Steele said.

Repairing or replacing the bridge is the number one priority of city engineers. They will look at all options and costs and come up with a plan. Once that is in place, it is expected to be 12 to 18 months before the bridge is re-opened to traffic.

The city will be exploring state and federal funding available for the project.

Map of available detour route: DETOUR ROUTE

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