By Justin Glowacki, Roy Howard Community Journalism Center, Jakira Hunt, Roy Howard Community Journalism Center and McKenna Klamm, Roy Howard Community Journalism Center | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.
OCEAN SPRINGS — Newly released bridge inspection reports show engineers had documented advanced deterioration at the Hanshaw Road Bridge for years before a February 2025 report recommended immediate closure, adding new detail to earlier reporting on the bridge’s condition and the events that followed.
The bridge, located about 1,000 feet from Ocean Springs Middle School, serves as a key connector on Hanshaw Road between Old Spanish Trail and Bienville Boulevard. According to the Office of State Aid Road Construction, nearly 10,000 vehicles cross it daily, including school buses, mail trucks, garbage collectors and emergency vehicles.
In earlier coverage, city officials said they were not aware of the extent of the bridge’s condition before the March 5, 2025, closure, while county officials pointed to years of inspection reports calling for urgent repairs.
The newly released reports, obtained through a public records request, provide a clearer timeline of those claims.
The reports, which date from 2019 to February 2025, show a repeated pattern: Inspectors consistently found “advanced section loss” in timber piles supporting the bridge, largely tied to marine borer damage and decay. Marine borers are small saltwater organisms that tunnel into and weaken wood. Across multiple years, the bridge remained open under posted weight limits of 8 tons for tandem axles and 7 tons for single axles.
In the December 2019 routine inspection, inspectors described the bridge as being in poor condition overall. They flagged advanced section loss in timber piles at Bents 3, 4 and 5 due to marine borer damage and recommended an underwater inspection, while still recommending the bridge remain posted rather than closed. Bents are the bridge’s support frames underneath the span. Each bent includes multiple piles, or vertical supports.
A 2020 quality-control and quality-assurance field review generally agreed with the 2019 inspection and said marine borer damage below the waterline was evident, although the full extent could not be determined from that review. A quality-control and quality-assurance inspection is meant to check an earlier inspection for accuracy. The December 2020 routine inspection again described the bridge as being in poor condition overall and recommended an underwater inspection.
By December 2021, inspectors reported that advanced section loss due to marine borer damage or decay now involved Bents 2 and 6 in addition to Bents 3, 4 and 5.
A February 2022 underwater inspection documented deterioration below the waterline, including outer shell decay, voids and marine borer holes in piles at Bents 3, 4 and 5. Even after that inspection, the bridge remained open under the same posted weight limits.
Routine inspections in late 2022 and 2023 continued to document advanced section loss in the timber piles. In December 2023, inspectors added a stronger warning, recommending a new load rating because of additional marine borer damage to the piles.
That same year, Jackson County began preliminary planning for a full replacement, according to Road Manager Joe O’Neal, who said the county hired an engineer, began design work and spent about $170,000 before the project was later transferred to Ocean Springs in September 2024.
Two 2024 records did not reflect new field findings. An April 2024 administrative update largely carried forward the December 2023 inspection, and an August 2024 error correction said all but a handful of corrected fields came from previous reports.
On Dec. 10, 2024, routine inspection, inspectors again described the bridge as being in poor condition overall. They said timber piles in Bents 2, 3, 4 and 5 had advanced section loss because of marine borer damage or decay and noted the bridge was scheduled for replacement in the near future, according to the county engineer. Still, the report recommended maintaining the existing posting rather than closing the bridge.
That changed on Feb. 12, 2025, when a critical findings report identified specific piles in Bents 3, 4 and 5 as being in urgent need of repair or replacement because of advanced section loss from marine borer activity and recommended immediate closure. The bridge officially closed March 5.
Former Mayor Kenny Holloway previously told the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center that the city did not realize the bridge was being replaced because of advanced deterioration and said the only report city officials received was the notice to close it.
The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center later sought bridge inspection reports dating to 2019 through a public records request submitted April 9, 2025. After MDOT denied that request, the center filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission challenging the denial.
The bridge reopened in June 2025 after emergency repairs. Jackson County officials said the work cost about $84,000, passed final inspection and was expected to extend the bridge’s life by three to five years. During that time, Ocean Springs is expected to work toward a full replacement.
In previous coverage, city project manager Sarah Harris said a new bridge could likely cost about $2.5 million, with early steps including securing funding, procurement and hiring an engineer. We contacted the mayor’s office for an update on the planning, and it provided the following statement: “The county has completed repairs to the bridge, ensuring its stability and functionality for the next several years. The city continues to actively pursue additional funding through both state and federal sources to support long-term improvements and infrastructure needs,” said Laurri Garcia, executive administrator and public affairs officer for the city of Ocean Springs.
