Cobb County's historic Concord Road covered bridge, damaged by a flatbed truck last month, reopened Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m., in time to accommodate the afternoon rush hour.
The covered bridge, which carries east/west traffic on Concord Road over Nickajack Creek, was closed to traffic most of the day Tuesday.
The 1872-era bridge near Smyrna was fully renovated last fall, a project that required four months and $800,000. Shortly after it re-opened in December, the bridge — or the barrier erected to protect it — was rammed by a truck.
According to Cobb County the low-clearance bridge and it’s protective barriers are struck by vehicles about once a month, causing significant traffic problems
The bridge is marked with signs declaring its clearance at seven feet. Collisions occur at the site when seven-foot-plus vehicles attempt to drive through. Metal “headache beams” were added to the bridge in 2009 to warn of the low clearance, and to entrap taller vehicles.
The latest collision occurred Jan. 26, three days after the Cobb County Commission voted to pay for enhanced warning signs, but the county had yet to install the signs. The single-lane bridge carries up to 7,000 vehicles a day, according to Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt.
One of the new signs is intended to use radar to measure the height of oncoming vehicles, and to issue warnings to those that are too tall, said Cavitt.
The $1,500 repair bill will be charged to the trucking company responsible for the collision Cavitt said.
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