If you use the Dawsonville Highway bridge (Highway 53) to travel between Hall and Forsyth counties, you've probably noticed lots of construction activity in the past couple of weeks.
That's because the Georgia Department of Transportation is now working in earnest on the construction of a new bridge to replace the current Boling Bridge, or the "big green bridge," as some call it.
The DOT's Katie Strickland said earlier this week that natural areas on either end of the bridge have been mostly cleared. Then, there was the chore of bringing heavy equipment to the work site - it had to be floated down Lake Lanier.
"They actually had to do it pretty quickly because the lake levels are so low, they weren't going to be able to do it if they'd waited much longer," Strickland said in a GDOT video post.
Strickland said GDOT crews this week began the job of pouring the first caisson - or bridge support column - for the new bridge.
Once the new bridge is finished and traffic is shifted to it, then the old bridge will be demolished.
Strickland said motorists will be kept up-to-date on construction project with signage posted in the area.
Boling Bridge was built in 1956 and is well beyond the viable age for replacement, according to GDOT.
March 2019 is the projected finish date for the new bridge, which will consist of two 12-foot lanes with 8-foot shoulders. Cost for the project is close to $19.9 million.
Equipment to build the new bridge on Dawsonville Highway at Lake Lanier had to be floated down the lake and into place. (Photo from the Georgia Department of Transportation-Northeast office.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/12/479511/gdot-begins-work-on-big-green-bridge-project-at-the-hallforsyth-county-line