Motorists who travel along Highway 328 in Lafayette County will encounter more road construction, as Mississippi Department of Transportation crews will be replacing another bridge on the roadway.

MDOT officials announced Monday that a section of the road a half mile east of County Road 337/Old River Road will be closed beginning Wednesday in order for crews to replace an existing bridge with a box culvert. Motorists are advised to find an alternate route until the work is completed.

This bridge replacement is one of eight projects MDOT is undertaking along Highway 328.

According to MDOT public information officer Jason Scott, one bridge — site 5 — has been completed to date. Work is currently underway at sites 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8, with work to begin on site 6 Wednesday.

Replacing the bridge with a culvert is not uncommon. The bridge will be replaced with a concrete box culvert, which is constructed in place, according to Scott..

“Through the years, design criteria has improved on determining the drainage requirements,” Scott said. “Using current design criteria, we are sometimes able to replace an existing bridge with a smaller concrete pipe or culvert.”

Scott added that the work on site 6 is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete.

“However, this time frame is dependent upon the weather and other factors,” Scott said.

Some residents in the area are pleased the work is taking place despite the inconvenience.

“I am glad they are fixing the bridges that need too be replaced,” said Regina Stone, who lives on Cutoff Road just off Highway 328. “But the extra traffic coming up our road when the bridge (site 5) was out was horrible.”

City Editor Alyssa Schnugg contributed to this story.