A project to pave a 4.7-mile section of the Mississippi 465 atop the mainline levee north of Eagle Lake is expected to begin the first part of August, the project’s manager said Tuesday.

Riley Bridge Co. of Russellville, Ala., has been awarded a $2.35 million contract to resurface the section of Mississippi 465 that was torn up during a Corps project to raise the levee.

Project manager Rick Shelton with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District said the paving project to resurface the gravel road will take about one month to complete.

“Before fall, before hunting season, all that should be done,” he said. Shelton said the road will be reduced to one lane during the construction.

“The (contract) specs were written that they have to maintain traffic flow at all times, so they’re going to pave one side and then the other,” he said. He said the work will include paving the slope from the levee to its intersection with the lower end of the highway.

Shelton said the roadbed is already in place for the project, adding the gravel sub base was put back after the asphalt was removed.

“The people have been driving over that gravel and actually been helping out,” said Greg Raimondo, public relations director for the Vicksburg District. “As they’ve been driving over the gravel, they’ve been helping to pack it down.” He said the base would be “smoothed out” before the paving is done.