Deck is completed for Highway 247 bridge

RED BAY — A new $3.3 million bridge being built over Little Bear Creek northeast of Red Bay on Alabama 247 continues to take shape.

The bridge was closed in October 2024 to allow Riley Bridge Co. of Russellville to remove the old span and begin construction of a new, more modern bridge.

The original bridge, which is about 4 miles north of Alabama 24, was built in 1963.

In the spring, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation, the contractor began installing the girders that support the bridge deck.

Riley Bridge Co. has poured the final section of the concrete bridge deck, according to ALDOT.

The next-to-lastremaining section of the deck is near the center of the bridge, but not readily accessible to a concrete pump, according to ALDOT.

Instead, concrete was transferred from trucks to a concrete bucket and hoisted over the bridge by crane.

The contractor’s employees then poured, spread, leveled and smoothed the concrete.

The bridge is 12 feet wider than the old structure, improving safety with 6-foot shoulders in addition to the two travel lanes.

Jud Young, the North Region/Tuscumbia Area Office preconstruction engineer, said the contract has 115 working days, so the bridge construction would likely last until this fall, depending on the weather.

Due to the construction, commercial traffic has had to use the official detour route, which is Alabama 24 to U.S. 43 to U.S. 72 and vice versa.

Local traffic may use other alternate routes.