NORWAY – Heavy rain over the past week or two has delayed the opening of the Morse Street bridge.

“It’s going slow. We got a lot of rain,” highway superintendent Ron Springer said Monday as clouds threatened to pour more water over the site Monday.

The bridge, which runs over a no-name stream that eventually runs into Crooked River by Dunn Road in the area that was once known as the Chapel District, was considered “shaky” when local officials decided last year to replace it.

The new bridge, which Springer calls “a bridge in a box” has to be put together piece by piece, including the metal decking, which requires two men welding countless holes.

In the rain, on a metal surface, the consequences can be treacherous.

“It takes a lot of welding. I don’t want anyone to get electrocuted,” he said.

Highway Department employee Steve Powers, who was on the site Monday with Brian Anderson and Arthur Chappell, said it is not uncommon to feel a little electrical jolt – even with heavy gloves – as they work on the metal decking. With water running below them, water on the decking and a lot of water raining from the sky this past week, Powers said even without visible lightning, small currents of electricity can sometimes be felt.

Springer and Powers said they hope to have the welding done in the next day or two if the weather holds, then the bridge will be paved. The bridge may be entirely up by the end of the week.

Bad weather has also delayed other summer highway department work, including ditching, raising roads to grade and doing patch work on other roads.

“There haven’t been any major washouts, but it’s not good,” Springer said.