The new bridge warning device installed in front of Cobb County’s Concord Road covered bridge has been battered in the seven days since it was installed, but appears to be doing its job to end the drama of a daily bridge mishap.
It’s been a week since the system — dangling PVC pipes suspended over the road on the approach to the bride — was added to prevent vehicles from crashing into the other protection device: metal beams adjacent to the bridge.
While the pipes have been struck numerous times by tall vehicles, Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt said Friday that it appears drivers are getting the message because they have not had any close calls with the bridge in two weeks.
“It’s taken some strain off the neighbors and the beams,” he said of the system.
PHOTOS: Cobb's covered bridge gets new warning device
The latest warning device is intended to be struck by too-tall vehicles as they approach the historic covered bridge, giving them time to turn around. Traffic signal mast arms hold the dangling pipes over Concord Road at a height of seven feet, which is the same maximum height for the one-lane bridge spanning Nickajack Creek just south of the East-West Connector.
It joins the protective metal beams that sit much closer to the bridge and have prevented almost two dozen collisions since they were installed in late 2017.
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The county's system was first put to the test last week when a semi truck traveling about 35 mph struck the pipes, sending them spinning around the mast arm. To prevent this from happening, Cavitt said county Department of Transportation crews have added a horizontal wire across the pipes to prevent them from swinging. They've also replaced missing pipes, and encased them with a rubber tubing to cut down on the noise they make when they are hit. County DOT crews are also exploring adding some lighting so nighttime drivers approaching the mast arms will see the system.
READ: Explore the history and beauty of Georgia's covered bridges
The covered bridge, built in 1872, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a centerpiece of Cobb’s Concord Covered Bridge Historic District, which features homes and mills dating to the 1800s.
While it has a long and treasured history, the covered bridge is best known for repeated accidents as inattentive drivers keep trying to fit tall vehicles under its low rafters. It has been the victim of 22 close calls since December 2017 when the county installed the protective metal beams at both ends of the bridge as part of an $800,000 taxpayer-funded rehabilitation. The beams are designed to absorb the blow, protecting the bridge.
Cavitt said the county is in a “wait and see” mode to determine ‘if anything else could be done to refine the system.
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