Double Bridges Road near the intersection of Wolfskin Road will be closed for the foreseeable future after the Georgia Department of Transportation discovered a damaged four-barrel box culvert at Moss Creek.
The culvert was recently inspected and found to have been damaged since the previous inspection, Oglethorpe County Public Works director Adam Nation said Tuesday.
Nation said GDOT inspects the county’s bridges every two years.
He and county code ordinance officer Jeff Sharp were at the location on Tuesday as crews placed signs and barrels to warn drivers about the road closure. The county also placed barriers across Double Bridges Road at the culvert.
“Me and Jeff have looked at it a dozen times and it seems that it’s happened all at once,” Nation said. “I don’t have any facts to back that up, but from our experience seeing other things, it’s weird how it happened.”
Nation doesn’t know how long that portion of Double Bridges Road will be closed and was hesitant to put a timeframe on it.
The state and county will inspect the culvert more closely and decide if it needs to be repaired or a total rebuild. The rebuild would take considerably longer to complete than a repair, Nation said.
The county is working with the Sheriff’s Office, the Athens Clarke-County Police Department, area fire departments and the school system to provide alternate routes in case of emergencies and for school buses.