Crawford County commissioners announced on Nov. 25 that they received a total of $2.1 million from a mix of federal, state and private entity grants to fix two bridges. The funds are from multiple entities, including Fish and Wildlife, The Nature and Conservative, The Forest Service, and NERDA. They will help fund work to the Sellers Road and John Coleman bridges. Out of the $2.1 million, $110,000 is from the Forest Service for tree donation and design. 

Danny Brown, Crawford County road and bridge engineer and consultant, said Sellers Road Bridge will need bank stabilization, which is a method of utilizing vegetation, in this case, trees, to control soil erosion along the bank. 

“I met with the Forest Service, and I signed papers with them to get the trees at no cost,” Brown said. “The only thing we have to do is hire a logger. We will put a notice out in the next two weeks for a logger. We’re going to be taking bids for someone to push over and stockpile approximately 100 trees at Sellers Road Bridge and approximately 100 trees at John Coleman. We will separate those bids out. The logger will be working with myself and the Forest Service to get those trees pushed out and dragged down to a holding spot.” 

Brown said that Sellers Road Bridge is passable, but it needs to be redone. He also said the bridge is unable to carry the water flow, and the opening is not big enough to withstand all that water flow. With a new bridge, Brown explained that there will be a 60-foot opening that will carry much more water. 

“It’s washed out,” he said of Sellers Road Bridge. “We went there and repaired the bridge several times in the past, but now it’s time for a new bridge. These trees are going to be used for riprap. They go upstream and will be wedged into the existing bank where the water meanders over.”

Construction and engineering for the Sellers Road Bridge, Brown said, is estimated at around $1 million. Work began Dec. 1 on the bridge. The rest of the grant will apply to the John Coleman Bridge. 

The county is contributing $75,000 each for the remaining costs on each bridge. When Brown retired in December 2024, he said he left $150,000 in county funds that he saved over multiple years to cover these two bridges. Work on the John Coleman Bridge is tentatively set to go out to bid in February or March, around the time the Sellers Road Bridge should be completed, weather permitting. 

Sellers Road Bridge is located in the southern part of Crawford County, about 22 miles from Steelville. The John Coleman Bridge is located eight miles from the Sellers Road Bridge. 

“This bridge work means less problems,” Brown said. “It’s a big safety factor. We are going to have the bridges carry more like 80-85 percent of the water, so that means 80-85 percent of the time you'll be able to cross the bridge where you couldn't in the past, which makes it a lot more convenient for emergency vehicles, mail routes and school routes. It's a big win-win.” 

Also, it was confirmed that work began last week to replace the High Point Bridge, located on High Point Road, north of Cuba.