Bridge work to close Cherokee County road for eight months

Work begins this week in the Ball Ground area to replace a bridge that carries Lower Dowda Mill Road over Sharp Mountain Creek, Cherokee County announced.

The road will be closed to through traffic until June 11, 2021, the county said. A detour will be posted utilizing Upper Dowda Mill Road, Ga. 108, Ga. 515 and Lower Dowda Mill Road.

In July, county commissioners awarded a $984,480 bridge replacement contract to McCarthy Improvement Co.

The existing bridge is a narrow, one-lane steel span with wood decking, no shoulders and posted weight restrictions. The new bridge, a steel truss supporting a concrete deck, will have two, 12-foot-wide travel lanes and shoulders.

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