The entity in charge of what to do with the Eighth Avenue bridge after its replacement is constructed is Graham County, not the Arizona Department of Transportation as previously reported.

Linda Ritter, a public information officer with ADOT, said the demolition of the bridge was not within the scope of its construction project. She said the county, however, intends to remove it in the future.

Safford Utilities Director Jay Howe recently expressed his concern to the City Council about the cost of relocating utility pipes hanging under the existing bridge. He said the new bridge was engineered to support various utility pipes, but there was no funding allocated to the relocation of the utilities from their previous location. The estimated cost of the relocation is about $1 million. Howe told the council there wasn’t money in the budget to cover the cost.

The main utility hanging under the bridge is a water pipe that serves people in the region. Safford supplied more than 1.5 billion gallons for customers from Solomon to Central in 2006.

County Manager Terry Cooper said the county’s position is to demolish the bridge as soon as the new one is completed. He said that has been the county’s plan from the beginning and should not be a surprise to the city.

“We invited them to be involved (in the bridge project) since the very beginning,” he said. “Safford’s had a long time to figure it out.”

Cooper said leaving the bridge as it is would create a flood liability, with the bridge acting like a cork in a bottle and damming the Gila River during a flood. He said there was simply not enough clearance from the river.

While Howe said it is obvious the bridge must come down, he is requesting the county give the city two or three years to come up with the money to relocate the utilities. Howe also sent a letter to the Graham County Board of Supervisors, ADOT and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. requesting financial assistance.

Cooper said while all of the decisions would be made by the BOS, he doesn’t see the county’s allocating any more money for the project. He added that it would take roughly one year to 18 months of construction before the new bridge would be completed. The project is expected to be put out to bid this month.