Nighttime bridge work to continue through Friday

Some Macon residents got a rude awakening Monday night and Tuesday morning. Loud noises echoed through the city as portions of an interstate bridge were demolished.

The bridge is at the Interstates 16/75 interchange, not far from the Vineville and Ingleside neighborhood areas. The demolition will continue at least until Friday, between the hours of 9 p.m.-6 a.m., Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kimberly Larson said. The work has to be done at night because of traffic.

The northbound lanes of the bridge were shut down last week, so that side of the bridge can be taken down and rebuilt. All traffic has been switched over to the southbound side, which will be rebuilt when the northbound work is finished.

It’s part of a long-term reconstruction project that will widen and improve the safety of I-75 from Hardeman to Pierce avenues and I-16 from I-75 to Walnut Creek in Macon, according to GDOT. Plans call for 40 bridges to be rebuilt or modified, Larson said.

“It’s going to be a continuing process,” she said.

The racket drew more than 20 posts from Vineville residents on the Nextdoor social network. Some said it kept them awake into the wee hours Tuesday, and a few said they wished they had been given notice and questioned whether the work violated noise ordinances.

Jim and Susan Long, who live on Buford Place, off Vineville Avenue, noticed the sound between 8-9 p.m. Monday. And it wasn’t just the sound.

“We could feel the vibrations from the work,” Susan Long said. “We were surprised at how loud it was.”

When they went to bed about 11:30 p.m., the clanging noise was still going strong. They figured it was some sort of pile-driving work associated with the Interstate 16/75 expansion.

Eventually, “We both put in earplugs” to try to get some sleep.

People who live closer to the work site “probably didn’t get a bit of sleep.”

“We did wonder if this is going to be a nightly occurrence,” she said.

Grace Guyton, who lives on Elmridge Drive in Ingleside, noticed the noise after she turned off her TV around 7:30 or 8 p.m. She heard similar sounds a few weeks ago and figured Monday’s noises must have to do with the interstate work too.

“At first I just thought it was something in the neighborhood,” she said. “I had a hard time pinpointing what it was. I realized (the noise) wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2017 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Nighttime bridge work to continue through Friday."