Façade collapses on Stone Bridge

     Last week, the Jones County Engineer’s Office posted a weight limit of 10 tons on the historic Ely’s Stone Bridge outside of Monticello. The action was necessary following the collapse of part of the northwest wall of the bridge.

     Stone Bridge was built in 1893.

     “The load limit was posted to prevent heavy trucks from causing damage to the concrete slab above the bridge,” explained County Engineer Derek Snead.

     With part of the façade now missing, the edge of the concrete is seen hanging over the side of the bridge without protection. All that is underneath the concrete, on either side of the arches, is the dirt embankment.

     The Engineer’s Office was made aware of the situation from a local resident running on Stone Bridge Road. Snead said he imagines the stone and mortar collapse happened mid-week because his office was told the bridge was not in this condition last weekend.

     “It was already extremely deteriorated,” he said even before this incident. “We’ll have to watch it very closely,” added Snead, hoping the concrete doesn’t crack due to the lack of support underneath.

     As for whether or not this new incident would mean an immediate fix, Snead said you could pour a ton of money into Stone Bridge; it would not make the structure better.

     “It would be very costly to fix the entire structure like it needs to be,” he offered.

     With the recent, dramatic change in temperatures lately, Snead said the stone has shifted with the thawing of frost and the moisture inside the structure. While the weather is not the only factor in the deterioration, Snead said it isn’t helping matters either.

     In 2004, Snead said the southeast side of the bridge failed much like the northwest side now.

     “At the time, we had a local contractor patch it up,” he said. “But the stone and mortar is definitely deteriorating.”