Plans are under way to repair the driving surface of the westbound Jerry Jackson Bridge that crosses Lake Lanier in West Hall.

The pavement has an epoxy coating that "has outlived its lifespan and is breaking apart, (with) asphalt cracking badly," said Teri Pope, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation's Gainesville office.

Engineers from the state's bridge maintenance office recently inspected the bridge.

"The structure of the bridge is sound. The driving surface is not," Pope said.

DOT officials are developing a maintenance project "to remove what is left of the driving surface and replace it with a new smooth one," she said.

Details on the plans, including costs and a work schedule, should be completed soon.

The two-lane, 1,216-foot bridge on Ga. 53/Dawsonville Highway crosses Lake Lanier north of Gainesville Marina. It carried some 12,550 cars on average daily in 2009, the last year numbers were compiled, Pope said.

It was built in 1956 and served as a two-way bridge until 1992, when a two-lane, 1,176-foot eastbound bridge was built and it became a westbound bridge.

The construction took place as part of a Dawsonville Highway widening project.

Over the years, the right lane's driving surface particularly has come apart, creating several potholes.

Also, a steel grid that supports the surface is partially exposed.

"It looks bad and rides rough, but it is really cosmetic," Pope said. "Just the driving surface is damaged. We will remove the damaged area and replace it with a new epoxy coating, and it will be like new again."

After the 1992 project was completed, the DOT completed a four-lane widening of Dawsonville Highway from Lake Ranch Court near the bridge to Duckett Mill Road, a 3.24-mile stretch.

That $30 million project was completed in 2008.