A bridge repair project on Bogue Chitto Road came to a crashinghalt around 4 p.m. Monday when a portion of a bridge crossingBeaver Dam Creek collapsed.

There were no injuries and construction was expected to resumeTuesday or Wednesday.

“The bridge just fell in,” said District Three Supervisor NolanEarl Williamson. “They had that crane sitting on there, and it justgave in.”

Officials are still trying to determine the amount of damage, hesaid.

One span of the bridge, a crane and a front-end loader weredamaged.

At the time of the collapse, construction workers wereattempting to drive a test piling into the river to determine thelength of actual piling needed to support the bridge, Williamsonsaid.

“The pilings under these bridges are bad,” he said. “That’s whywe’re trying to replace them.”

The Beaver Dam Creek project is part of a much larger projectinvolving a major bridge on Bogue Chitto Road that would cross overCanadian National/Illinois Central Railroad tracks as well as theriver.

The county has been trying to fund a bridge project across theBogue Chitto River for more than 20 years, he said, and he waspleased the incident would not slow down the project.

“They’re a little ahead of schedule now, so I don’t think thiswill delay the project much,” he said.

Officials with Mid-South Construction Inc. of Columbia, whoreceived the contract for the project, were not immediatelyavailable for comment Tuesday.