No accidents, minor issues during recent snowfall thanks to county efforts

Published 8:30 am Thursday, January 30, 2025

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At the end of the Chambers County Commission meeting, County Engineer Josh Harvill gave an overview about the recent winter weather and the impact on the county’s many roads. According to Harvill, the county has over 430 paved roads and over 300 dirt roads. Because of this, preventative measures had to prioritize certain roads in the county.

Still, with the help of the Chambers County 911/EMA and the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, the staff of the highway department was able to work throughout last Tuesday and into the night pretreating roads with sand.

In fact, the highway department didn’t stop working on roads until nearly midnight on Tuesday. They quickly started up again on Wednesday and continued to work until 8 p.m. Thanks to the combined efforts of the county and officers from ALDOT (Alabama Department of Transportation), the county suffered no significant incidents and very minor road damage.

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Harvill praised the county for its unified efforts to get ahead of the potentially hazardous weather conditions.

Commissioner Sam Bradford and the other commissioners thanked Harvill for his efforts in organizing the work.

The Chambers County Commissioners approved a resolution to award several precast bridge replacement projects to the lowest bidder during the commission meeting on Monday night.

The bridges – one over Chikasanoxee Creek on County Road 156, Little Sandy Creek on County Road 2 and County Line Creek on County Road 46 – will be contracted to G. W. Norrell Contracting Company. The low bid was for $1,577,000.

Harvill will also execute an agreement with Safe Span, LLC for professional services for some bridges over railroads in the county. Harvill said at the commission meeting that the county doesn’t have direct access to the required equipment for the project.

The following structures will be inspected:

Bridge 3 on County Road 11 over Norfolk Southern Railroad, BIN 2926

Bridge 87 on County Road 2 over Norfolk Southern Railroad, BIN 21622

Bridge 42 on Phillips Road over CSX Railroad, BIN 13066

Bridge 36 on County Road 278 over CSX Railroad, BIN 10821

Finally, the commission approved a resolution to purchase the four Caterpillar Motorgraders with Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation. The resolution also authorized Chairman David Eastridge to execute the lease purchase agreement pending review by the county attorney.

During the meeting, the commission also approved the low bid for the mold remediation project at the Chambers County Detention Center.

The project had to be rebid after receiving a high bid from a company that didn’t complete a thorough inspection of the building. The new bid received was a much more reasonable price, according to the CCDC staff.