Scott Bridge wins $22 million low bid to replace Alabama's 87-year-old Gilbert's Ferry bridge

Ivey signed off on the contract Nov. 3 and announced it six days later. The Alabama Department of Transportation opened bids Sept. 25, and the highest of the four came in at nearly $35 million, ALDOT said. Its announcement did not name the other three bidders or give the engineer's estimate. Work is set to begin in early 2027, with completion due by late 2029.

Locals call it the "Little Bridge." The steel truss went up in 1939 as a Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works project and carried SR-77 in both directions between Southside and Rainbow City until a larger southbound bridge opened in 1979. The old span measures 868 feet end to end and 20 feet across, and its deck sits about 10 feet above the water. Ivey's office puts the number of people crossing the river on SR-77 at about 25,000 a day.

The new bridge will be built where the old one stands. It will measure 910 by 36 feet, with two 12-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side, and will stand about 30 feet above the river, three times the height of the old one. At the north end the road will rise only slightly, because the bridge lands close to the Lakeshore Drive/Whorton Bend Road intersection. The contract puts a stoplight and turn lanes at that intersection; ALDOT's earlier plan there was a restricted crossing U-turn. South of the bridge, the Fowler's Ferry Road signal and the median crossover come out.

For most of the job, northbound traffic will move onto the southbound bridge, which will carry one lane each way, according to ALDOT. State and federal money pays for the project, including a $3 million federal appropriation that ALDOT credits to U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt and Rep. Mike Rogers.