Old Highway 431 Bridge construction update

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - It has been almost two years since construction started to rebuild four bridges, on Old Highway 431, in Madison County.

The project comes with a $14.5 million construction project.

Since May of 2020, construction workers have been busy in Southeast Madison County reconstructing the four small narrow bridges on Old Highway 431. The bridges will be a lot wider. Before the construction, two vehicles couldn’t pass each other on the bridges.

“The project also have a bike lane, a pedestrian lane, a guardrail that will go with that, over the Flint River. Aesthetically, its really pleasing. It’s also a lot safer than the old 18 foot-wide bridges, that were here, that you’d have to pause and wait for a car to come across before you could proceed,” said Madison County Commissioner Craig Hill.

The wider and more secure bridges over the Flint River are just about complete.

“There were 96 pylons that had to be driven about 100 feet deep. When you’re working in a river bottom like this project is, there’s a lot more to construction than people realize,” said Hill.

Between the four bridges, there are stretches of road that will also be widened. In total, it’s more than a mile of road, so it will still be a couple more months before the detour signs are removed and you can travel on this portion of Old Highway 431.

“We hoped to be finished in March of 2022, but with weather days that are allocated through these projects, we’re probably early Fall. The weather and the pandemic is something no one can do anything about,” said Hill.

The project should be completed by fall 2022. If it takes any longer, the construction company will have to pay $5,300 a day, as a penalty.

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