The Marion County Highway Department reports work has been completed on two road projects and the roads have now been reopened.
They are the South Iuka Road south of the Route 161 extension where a large box culvert was replaced. The other is the Norton Road Bridge project, which means traffic can now flow on Norton Road from Community Beach to Bethel Road.
The South Iuka Road had a washed-out box culvert. Marion County Highway Engineer Mike McCormick says the new culvert should be able to handle the larger rain events. The road had been closed for four months. DePew and Owen Builders in Centralia completed the project for about $175,000. On Norton Road, a bridge over Turkey Creek was replaced after the timber piles were rotting on the original structure. The road has been closed for four years to get the project approved and built. DePew and Owen also completed that project at a cost of $237,000.
McCormick says the Route 161 Extension bridge over Skillet Fork Creek is still undergoing emergency repairs and the ten-ton weight limit remains in place to protect the bridge structure. The bridge also remains one lane. The project requires extensive specially fabricated repairs for each floor beam. No date has been targeted for the bridge to fully reopen.
