Traffic will be reduced to one lane at the span of the Popp’s Ferry bridge this evening beginning at 7:30 while repairs are made the span’s steel grate.
The repairs could take as long as three hours.
Biloxi Police will be on hand to keep traffic moving safely and efficiently, but motorists are advised to adjust travel timing or route to avoid the work zone.
During the repairs, welder Dann Balius will use a section of steel grating he fabricated to repair two square-foot sections of grate on the bridge. His work will replace temporary steel plates that he installed weeks ago to fill in sections where grating had become fatigued.
Balius, the third generation of a family of Biloxi welders, fashioned metal bars a half-inch thick by 2½ inches wide to create the new grating.
“We’re going to remove the plates that we installed, then cut out the fatigued grating, and replace it with this new material, which isn’t beat up from the constant traffic,” said Balius, whose family is better known for crafting oyster dredges and specialty welding jobs such as spiral staircases, fences or metal tables.
Added the Biloxi native: “We’re proud to be called on to do this, and we’re going to make sure we do a good job on these repairs.”
