City Closes Anderson Main Street Bridge

The bridge on Main Street in Anderson has been closed due to damage from the spring floods.

Heavy chain bars vehicles but, to make the point more solid, large concrete barriers — the type used in construction zones on interstate highway — ensure no vehicles are going to cross.

“Evidently the flood at the end of April, first part of May, eroded the supports around the center column of the bridge,” Mayor John Sellers said.

It was deemed unsafe for heavy traffic, although it was probably safe for light traffic such as cars and pickup trucks. It would not be safe for a fully-loaded dump truck. It was determined that the safest thing to do was to close it down to everything but foot traffic, he said. He noted the city employed a diver to go in and inspect the column.

“Our engineer recommended closing the bridge, so we did,” he said.

“I’m hoping it won’t be closed very long. Maybe we can expedite repairs to the bridge,” he said, adding that he has talked to FEMA about paying for the repairs.

Repairs have been estimated at nearly $218,000, he said.

If FEMA does not pay, it is possible funds could come from the state Emergency Management Agency, Missouri Department of Transportation or the Department of Economic Development, he said.

“Everybody has said we’re going

to wait and see what FEMA does,” he said.

The bridge was built in 1943 when the original bridge was washed out by a flood, Sellers said.

“Given the amount of time and the floods, I have to congratulate our forefathers. The bridge is still standing, so I compliment them on that,” he said.

Sellers said he has been checking weekly with FEMA but has no word yet.

“Given the fact that they’ve had Hurricane Harvey, Irma and now Maria, I’m sure their resources are pretty thin. I’m sure Congress will allocate the resources to get everybody back to status quo.

“We hope to have the bridge reopened within three to six months. If funding is available from any other source, we will exercise the principle of self-reliance that was written about by Ralph Waldo Emerson and take care of it ourselves, somehow,” he said.