Park service will remove foot bridge at Alley Spring

EMINENCE — Removal of a concrete pedestrian bridge at Alley Mill is expected to begin soon, after two successive years of flood damage.

The National Park Service is working with the Federal Highway Administration to complete the project, said Dena Matteson, public information officer for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

An emergency closure is in place for this section of the Jack’s Fork River, but it will be removed after demolition is complete, according to a press release. Work may take until March, depending on weather, Matteson said.

The NPS is looking at other options for pedestrians to cross the river in that area. The Highway 106 bridge that crosses the Jack’s Fork here does not have shoulders or other ways for pedestrians to cross out of the flow of traffic.

Floods in April 2017 and February 2018 caused structural damage to the bridge, according to the park service. It has been closed to foot traffic since April 2017, and the river below was closed a year later.

“At that point, complete removal of the existing structure was determined to be the best option for visitor safety,” Matteson said.

Removal is expected to take several weeks. Work to relocate utility lines attached to the bridge is also underway. The utilities will be moved under the riverbed, which the park service believes will improve the reliability of phone, electric, water and sewer lines that cross the river there.

In preparation for bridge demolition, a temporary riprap causeway is being constructed between the pedestrian bridge and the adjacent highway bridge, Matteson said. The causeway will extend into the river channel and provide equipment access so that the pedestrian bridge can be cut into sections and removed by a crane. The existing concrete piers will be completely removed as well. After demolition is complete, all riprap material will be removed from the river and disposed of off-site.

Robertson Contractors, Inc. of Poplar Bluff is conducting the demolition.