Bridge of Honor: Government Fleet Road bridge named for county engineer
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Officials from Adams County, Natchez Inc., the City of Natchez and the Mississippi Department of Transportation join Jim Marlow and his wife Charlotte during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly named Jim Marlow Bridge. (Ben Hillyer/The Natchez Democrat)
NATCHEZ — Adams County leaders gathered Monday to honor the man who has helped the county rebuild so many bridges you’d have to use both hands and feet to count them off.
And they did it by dedicating a bridge in his honor.
The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted to dedicate the Government Fleet Road bridge to County Engineer Jim Marlow in February 2012.
The road has been open to traffic since early 2013, but the official dedication hadn’t happened yet.
Jim Marlow, right, and his wife Charlotte stand by the newly unveiled sign bearing Jim’s name. (Ben Hillyer/The Natchez Democrat)
Marlow — who works for Jordan, Kaiser and Sessions — has been contracted as the county engineer since 1994, though his first job with Adams County was when he was 15 years old, working for his father, who managed the road department.
During his time as county engineer, Marlow has overseen the reconstruction of 120 miles of road and the repair or replacement of 20 bridges, Adams County Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said.
Local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts begin the dedication of the newly named Jim Marlow Bridge with the Pledge of Allegiance Monday morning on Government Fleet Road. (Ben Hillyer/The Natchez Democrat)
He has likewise provided designs and project oversight for “thousands” of county projects, Grennell said.
After the brief dedication ceremony, Marlow said he considered the naming “a real honor.”
The 190-foot bridge is the only one of its kind in the area. Built on an 8-percent grade to match the slope of Government Fleet Road, the bridge curves in part to accommodate railroad tracks in the area.
Several cuts had to be made into the bluffs in the area to accommodate the bridge and road construction that it accompanied.
Adding the roadway as an extension of Government Fleet Road saves seven miles round trip for trucks entering the port from U.S. 84 west. Previously, the port had only one entrance, from River Terminal Road.
Mississippi Department of Transportation Southern District Commissioner Tom King said having the additional roadway open is invaluable not only to Adams County but to Mississippi as a whole because the port is in the city where U.S. 61 and U.S. 84 junction.
U.S. 61 connects New Orleans at its southern end to northern Minnesota. U.S. 84 runs from Pagosa Springs, Colo., to Midway, Ga.
“Transportation equals economic development, and without people like Jim, it wouldn’t get done,” King said.
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