State orders closure of another South MS bridge days after Hanshaw Road reopens
.jpg "A bridge inspection in November 2024 of the Tanner Williams Road bridge in Jackson County shows erosion and rust.")
The beams that support the Tanner Williams Road Bridge in Jackson County are rusting so badly that the state has ordered it closed until the problem is fixed.
Records show the bridge, which crosses the Escatawpa River in the county’s northeast corner, has been deteriorating since at least November last year, when an inspection report showed the steel posts were thinning. County leaders said this year they have been welding more steel as reinforcement.
But a recent underwater inspection found brackish water was weakening the bridge’s pilings, said Harry Lee James, the state aid engineer in the Office of State Aid Road Construction.
“Steel just deteriorates over time,” he said. “It’s just not protected.”
The decision came days after the Hanshaw Road Bridge, which the state closed earlier this year, reopened in Ocean Springs. The bridges are among nearly three dozen across the Mississippi Coast that, according to inspection reports, have weakened to the point that they may need to be repaired or replaced.
The Tanner Williams Road Bridge will close on Monday, said Barry Cumbest, who represents its district on the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. The bridge must be repaired and inspected again before it reopens. Cumbest said he hopes the process will take about a month.
The bridge was built in 1962 and must one day be replaced. But county leaders estimate replacing it will cost $9.2 million and require federal, state and county funding.
The closure will send about 1,000 drivers who cross the bridge each day on a roughly five mile detour, Cumbest said. It will also disrupt farmers who use the bridge to transport crops.
“It’s really a big inconvenience for a bunch of folks,” Cumbest said.
The Office of State Aid Road Construction oversees Mississippi’s bridge inspections, which follow standards set by the Federal Highway Administration. County engineer Bob Diamond said he received the closure notice from the state Monday morning.
“Long term, the plan is to get it replaced,” he said. “But right now, in the short term, it’s to make these repairs and continue using it.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM.