Brandon’s 8th Street Bridge is completely closed to traffic until further notice.
Mitchell Robinson works at Mitch the Pool Guy, under the 8th Street Bridge.
He's worried about its safety.
"There was an engineer underneath it yesterday with a hammer, chipping away at the concrete and the concrete was actually falling apart like dust,” said Robinson.
The city closed the northbound lane late Tuesday afternoon.
In mid-May, it closed the southbound lane, a precaution recommended by an engineer. At that time, the concern was over issues with an expansion joint. The city said this new closure is unrelated.
"There are some concerns on the structural load capacity of the bridge. So, in order to ensure that we’re maintaining safety for motorists, we closed the bridge for now,” said Rod Sage from the City of Brandon.
In the coming days, talks will begin to analyze engineering findings on the structure, its safety and load capacity.
The City of Brandon said in a few weeks, it will have a better idea of what will happen to the bridge.
It could be fixed, rebuilt or taken out of commission.
Residents fear it will close for good.
"It's in horrible shape and there's probably no money in the budget for this bridge to be rebuilt," said Robinson.
Pedestrians and cyclists are still allowed across for the time being.
The City of Brandon said there are no immediate safety concerns to the public.
- with a report from Cheryl Holmes
