Covington residents traveling to and from River Forest subdivision will no longer have to suffer the inconvenient and time consuming detours involved because of the closure of the bridge across Mile Branch Creek.

Covington Mayor Candace Watkins said a piling failure resulted in the need for the repair. For weeks, residents and motorists had to detour to 19th or 21st Street or turn from Tyler Street onto 11th Street to avoid the detour. Those most affected live in the River Forest subdivision or have children at the Kehoe-France camp or school on Patricia Drive in the subdivision.

City administrator Beverly Gariepy said the repair cost about $44,000. She said the need for the repair was discovered this spring during a routine inspection. The notice to proceed was given July 21 and the bridge re-opened Aug. 23, about a month later. City Engineer Tom Schreiner said the bridge was inspected by the state in an annual process and rotten timbers were discovered in the pilings and pile caps. The report was given to the parish, who forwarded it to the city.

Schreiner said the bridge is a typically-built St. Tammany bridge. Although a specific age is not known, he said is it was easily 20 years old.

He said the rot was “spotty – one piece of timber would be almost completely rotted while next to it the lumber would be in good shape.”

The repair was done using like materials, as concrete would be a “massive undertaking,” more expensive and months long.

The use of the lumber is a lot less involved and more cost efficient.

Schreiner said the need for the repair had a lot to do with how water drains from the bridge onto the pilings. “Water drips more in one area than in another,” he said. The bridge was opened to traffic on Monday.