EDWARDS – A landmark bridge that appeared in the 2000 movie &#8220O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is being demolished, and a section of Mississippi 467 will be renovated to make room for a concrete replacement.

Built in 1929, the arched wooden bridge that crosses Kansas City Southern rails in the middle of town will be replaced by a new superstructure, according to Chris Dean, project superintendent for Hill Brothers Construction Company of Falkner.

&#8220From all I’ve heard, it’s the second-worst bridge in the state,” Dean said. &#8220Only cars and (pickup) trucks can pass because of the weight limit.”

Tearing down the wooden bridge could take four months, he said.

&#8220The existing road is going to be pulled out, and we’re going to put in some concrete, sidewalks and handrails. We’ll also cover the dirt work, pilings, retainer wall and prep work for the new bridge.”

The new structure will be built by Hill Brothers, KCS spokesman Doniele Kane said. &#8220The bridge project is funded entirely by Kansas City Southern Railway Company,” she said. &#8220Hill Brothers is doing the construction of the bridge.”

Kane, who did not disclose how much is being spent, also said the company, which maintained the wooden bridge, may eventually build a dual rail through Edwards. The new bridge would accommodate that expansion.

&#8220KCS is providing an opening for a second track, but does not plan to build a second track immediately,” she said.

The concrete bridge &#8220will have a decorative block face and will be more offset to the north than the wooden bridge,” Dean said.

Nancy Duren, Edwards’ deputy town clerk, has lived in the community for 73 years. She said she and others are not happy to see the wooden bridge destroyed.

&#8220The people here love the bridge, and we hate to see it torn down, but progress has to go forth,” she said. &#8220It’s just a landmark.”

It is a landmark, indeed, especially for Duren. Having moved to Edwards when she was 3 years old, the bridge has always been a part of her life.

&#8220I’m quite familiar with this railroad,” she said. &#8220We walked to school on those railroad tracks, and I had the utmost respect for them. I’ve come full circle.”

When she was 17, she started working at the Bank of Edwards. Nearly two decades later, she retired and eventually returned to the building that now houses Town Hall on Front Street.

&#8220As you can see, we’re in the same building that used to be the Bank of Edwards,” Duren said, pointing to a pair of glass doors still marking the bank’s name. &#8220Edwards was a booming town.”

As was the case for many towns on federal highways, the busy atmosphere began to fade in the 1960s when the Interstate system started moving people around towns instead of through them.

&#8220Edwards went down when the interstate came in and pulled traffic away from the community,” Duren said. &#8220It took away from the economy. We had nine grocery stores in the 1960s.”

No grocery stores are in Edwards today, but some downtown businesses got temporary facelifts when portions of &#8220O Brother” were filmed.

&#8220It was wild,” Duren said, smiling. &#8220They had bunches of people here. Vehicles and trailers were parked all over the place. They came out here and painted some signs and the murals, some of which you can still see.”

The &#8220O Brother” story, loosely based on Homer’s the Odyssey, is set in 1937 Mississippi and stars George Clooney, Holly Hunter, John Goodman and others. The movie’s American roots music soundtrack won a Grammy for Album of the Year.

After the filming, Edwards returned to normalcy and, within months, a structure that has remained through decades of ups-and-downs will be gone.

&#8220People come from everywhere, and they stop and take pictures because the bridge is unique,” Duren said. &#8220Everybody is just fascinated with the bridge. It used to be flat, but when the trains started double-stacking the cars, they had to raise the bridge. People don’t like that part of it.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 1,375 wooden bridges were in Mississippi as of December 2006.