State rejects only bid for new Weisenberger Mill bridge, says it will re-advertise for bids to be made by July 26

The bridge is a scenic, historic spot due to the mill, built in 1913 on the site of an 1865 mill, and its dam on South Elkhorn Creek.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Friday rejected the only bid for construction of a new Weisenberger Mill Bridge, which was almost three times the engineers' estimate but may have been made in error.

The cabinet will advertise the project for bids to be awarded after its July 26 bid letting, said Natasha Lacy, spokeswoman for the cabinet's District 7 office in Lexington. Construction is expected to take six to nine months.

Monday will mark the three years since the cabinet closed the bridge for safety reasons. The bidding was the latest in a series of delays for efforts to replace it with a new bridge.

The bid by Louisville Paving Co. was $1.95 million, 2¾ times the estimate of $709,889. Woodford County Magistrate Jackie Brown told the Midway Messenger Kelly Baker, the chief engineer at the cabinet's District 7 office in Lexington, told him Louisville Paving bid on foundation work they would not have to do, and expects a rebid would be much nearer to the engineers’ estimate.

The bridge across South Elkhorn Creek, the border of Woodford and Scott counties, is nominally Woodford's responsibility, under a longstanding agreement between the counties, but the state agreed to take responsibility for it several years ago.

The state closed the bridge after inspectors found it was not safe for a load of three tons. The state had already lowered the limit twice in an effort to turn away heavy trucks whose drivers used the bridge, apparently following Global Positioning System directions for a shortcut to or from Interstate 64, using Paynes Depot Road and perhaps Big Sink Road.

The bridge's closure has further isolated the largely African American community of Zion Hill, at the southern tip of Scott County. Woodford County has been providing emergency services to the area.

Replacing the one-lane span, built in the early 1930s, has been complicated. The first plan was for a two-lane bridge, but the cabinet changed it to one lane, with the pony-truss style of the old bridge, to assuage public concern that a modern concrete span would detract from the scenic nature of the site and encourage speeding, causing accidents in the sharp curve on the Woodford County side.

Since the bridge has historical significance and is a state responsibility, the project had to undergo review by the State Historic Preservation Office and the Kentucky Heritage Council, as well as an environmental impact report to federal officials. The project was delayed at least a month by negotiations over construction easements.