By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The new footbridge connecting the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre to the bevy of hotels and restaurants along Alabama 119 received a trial by fire shortly after it was replaced earlier this month.

“We had 8,000-plus at the Matchbox Twenty concert, and the new bridge passed the load test,” Pelham Mayor Gary Waters said during a recent City Council meeting.

The new steel-framed pedestrian bridge replaced a dated wooden-planked bridge leading from the Amphitheatre parking lot to Alabama 119.

During a July meeting, the Pelham City Council agreed to pay Byrd Contractors $25,000 to replace the pedestrian bridge over Buck Creek leading from entertainment venues to Alabama 119.

Through a 1996 agreement between Pelham and the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, the Amphitheatre will reimburse the city half of the $25,000 expense.

The pedestrian bridge is one of two leading from the Amphitheatre and Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena to the multitude of restaurants and hotels lining Alabama 119. During concerts or major Civic Complex events, businesses along Alabama 119 see increased customer traffic as a result of the bridges.