By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Shelby County Highway Department officials are waiting for clearance from the Alabama Department of Transportation before they begin replacing a heavily used bridge on Shelby County 11 in Alabaster.

Shelby County Engineer Randy Cole said crews should begin working to replace the Peavine Creek bridge, which is on Shelby County 11 between Huntley Parkway and Weatherly Club Drive, early next year.

Crews recently began clearing the area around the bridge to prepare for the upcoming construction.

“We are waiting on ALDOT to go through their due diligence right now,” Cole said. “We are looking at starting sometime after the first of the year.”

Cole said the bridge replacement will cost about $1.5 million, and will be funded using mostly federal money. The county’s match will be 20 percent of the total cost, or about $300,000.

The match will cut the county Highway Department’s reserve budget “significantly,” Cole said.

“We usually only do projects like this once a year,” Cole added. “We only replace bridges that are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.”