The city of Vicksburg and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District have signed an agreement enabling the Corps to help the city develop a plan to stabilize the west bank of Hennessy Bayou to build a new bridge on Kemp Bottom Road.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and Vicksburg District commander Col. Michael Derosier signed the agreement during a brief ceremony Tuesday at the Vicksburg District Headquarters. Under the agreement, the city and the Corps will split the study’s $75,000 cost.

The Kemp Bottom Road bridge collapsed in July because of erosion along the bayou’s bank. Kemp Bottom Road is the main access to Entergy’s Baxter Wilson power plant. The loss of the bridge forced Entergy Mississippi to build a second route to the plant.

“This is a partnership agreement between the city of Vicksburg and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Corps’ planning assistance to states program,” Derosier said. “The Vicksburg District will provide technical assistance to the city as it investigates the problem with bank stabilization at Hennessy Bayou.

“The immediate challenge is how to stem the head cut (steep erosion) of the bayou which is currently impacting the bridge and the entrance to the Entergy’ power plant.”

Flaggs said the agreement is the beginning of the process the city has to go through “to be able to access resources and money down the road to support these projects.

“This is a great beginning of how we can begin to correct that and at the same time stabilize it and get the bridge back in,” he said, adding the erosion study is part of the process to qualify for funds to replace the bridge.

“We’ll just tee it up and hope we get it down the road to the finished product,” he said.

Derosier called the agreement “a great partnership between the Vicksburg District, the city and Entergy.

“I think it’s very timely as we have a broader national discussion on infrastructure to this nation. This is the kind of work the Corps gets excited about, where we’re able to align our authorities and our requisite appropriations in a way that adds value to the nation and puts us in a position to be able to turn dirt, and that’s what the Corps likes to do.”

Flaggs commended the state’s congressional delegation and the Corps for their assistance.

He called the agreement vital to the economic success of Vicksburg, because of the assistance it will provide to the Baxter Wilson plant.

“I think this speaks volumes to the kind of collaboration that we have in this community and certainly with you (the Corps) and your predecessors on how to work with Washington, D.C., and how to work state government; I want to thank you for that,” he told Derosier. There are more challenges the Corps can help the city with.

“I hope this is the beginning of a great opportunity, and I would hope for the good of the public. It will somehow speak good for me and my travels to Washington, D.C., so often.”

Bank erosion problems caused city officials to close the Kemp Bottom Road bridge July 25. The bridge collapsed two days later.

The problem with the bridge dates back to the 2011 spring Mississippi River flood, when the river crested on May 19, 2011, at 57.1 feet, 14.1 feet above flood stage and nine-tenths of a foot above the Great Flood of 1927.

Engineers said the water entering Hennessy’s Bayou during the flood receded quickly and created the present erosion problem that caused the bridge to collapse. The cost of replacing the bridge is estimated at about $2 million.