VAN BUREN, Ark. — While construction was supposed to be underway on the Midland Bridge between Van Buren and Fort Smith, an issue has thrown a wrench in the construction's progress.
"This delay just happened recently, within the last week or so," Dave Parker, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) said. "That's why you didn't see anybody out there working."
According to Parker, contractors were working to resurface the bridge when an issue was discovered.
"They were preparing the deck, and, in that process, the contractor came upon some more serious issues with the back wall of the bridge ... the foundation of the bridge itself," Parker said.
ARDOT found cracks in the back wall of the bridge.
"In some portions of the back wall, we saw some cracks," Parker said. "Let me stress again, that cracks in bridges and structures are fairly common."
Parker stressed there are no concerns about the bridge potentially failing.
"That's usually the first thing people go to is, 'Could the bridge collapse?' There's no concern at all about that, but there are still some pretty serious issues with the back wall," Parker said.
The issues do, however, halt progress on the project. Right now, Parker said ARDOT is working with its contractors to finalize and agree on a repair method.
"It's a formality, but it is a very important step," he said. "So that will take a little bit of time to get that paperwork ... get that taken care of, to have it all written down, what we've agreed to verbally as far as next steps and money."
After agreements are made, the work to repair the back walls on the Midland bridge can resume.
"I believe what they're going to do is shift all the traffic over to one side and work on this side and then essentially shift it back over and work on this side of the back wall," Parker said. "That could take an easy six to eight months."
Parker anticipates the project will be completed by early 2025.
He said they are still planning to do the majority of the work overnight once the repairs on the back walls are completed. For safety reasons, he believes construction on the back walls will be during the daytime.
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