COLUMBIA, Miss.—Semi-trucks were among the vehicles that clogged historic downtown Columbia, Mississippi, on Monday morning after the Mississippi Department of Transportation suddenly closed a bridge that crosses the Pearl River on U.S. Highway 98.
By Tuesday morning, officials had reopened the bridge following a fast repair effort to a void that had developed under a concrete slab, but MDOT plans to close it again for additional work on Thursday.
“A void was discovered near the approach to the U.S. 98 westbound bridge over the Pearl River, prompting MDOT officials to close the bridge to traffic due to safety concerns,” MDOT said in a statement on Monday morning.
The agency closed the bridge, located between Columbia and Foxworth, Mississippi, around 11:30 a.m. on Monday and reopened early Tuesday morning. The Columbian-Progress reported that MDOT Project Engineer Jordan Whittington said that T.L. Wallace Construction workers spotted a void that had “opened up all the way to the shoulder of the road” during routine work.
“We’re always worried about the safety about the traveling public. … I know it was an inconvenience, but I appreciate the patience the people had and understanding that we needed to make sure it was safe before putting people back on it,” Whittington said.
Highway 98 is a two-lane highway, but the eastbound bridge over the Pearl River in Marion County has been closed for several months while T.L. Wallace Construction crews work to replace the aging infrastructure. Since then, the westbound bridge has served both eastbound and westbound traffic.
After the temporary closure of the westbound lane on Monday, MDOT told drivers to use State Route 35, State Route 13 and State Route 198 as detours—forcing hundreds of drivers to take alternate routes on far less-traveled roads, including through the heart of the small town.
MDOT has long planned to replace both the eastbound and westbound bridges as part of a $60-million project, but officials don’t expect that work to be complete until 2027. Officials have said that the age of the bridges, along with seasonal flooding, made the replacement project necessary.
Mississippi Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Anna Ehrgott told the Mississippi Free Press on Monday morning that MDOT expected the bridge to fixed quickly.
“We are thinking more in terms of days than weeks currently,” she said on Monday. “As soon as we have more information, we’ll share it with the public.”
That news came even sooner than expected, with Marion County Sheriff Berkley Hall announcing that the bridge had reopened by 8:05 a.m. on Tuesday. But the Columbian-Progress reported on Tuesday morning that MDOT will close the bridge again at 6 a.m. Thursday to “allow crews to inject foam underneath the bridge slab, which will ensure that any remaining void is filled.” The newspaper reported that officials expect to reopen the bridge by 5 p.m. Thursday.
As of 2024, Mississippi had 7,385 bridges that needed repair and 1,009 bridges designated as structurally deficient, an American Road and Transportation Builders report said. The State has taken steps to address its infrastructure issues in recent years, thanks to an influx of both federal and state dollars.
Under former President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Mississippi received $225 million for bridge repairs and replacement. In 2018, the Mississippi Legislature approved the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund, which has provided around $600 million for infrastructure repairs since its passage.
On July 1, 2025, a new law took effect that will increase Mississippi’s gas tax by nine cents per gallon over a three-year period. Lawmakers say they expect the new tax to generate about $200 million annually for MDOT to improve Mississippi’s roads and bridges.
This story has been updated to note the bridge’s reopening on Tuesday morning and plans to close it for additional work on Thursday.
