Columbus to Phenix City bridge reopens, possible old military ordnance found
The Dillingham Street bridge has reopened amid an hours-long investigation into items found in the Chattahoochee River Friday afternoon.
The bridge between Columbus and Phenix City was closed while police examined items recovered from the river, according to a Facebook post Friday afternoon from the Columbus Police Department.
No official has specified what item was found, but Chance Corbett, emergency management homeland security director for the Columbus Consolidated Government, said a recreational diver found what is believed to be old military ordnance.
“We do not believe there is a danger at this time,” Corbett said after investigators had been on scene for a few hours. “Any areas that we felt were in the very immediate area, we pulled people out of, just to be sure.”
CPD public information officer Brittany Santiago told the Ledger-Enquirer just before 6:30 p.m. that nothing had been recovered from the river, but the investigation was still ongoing.
Corbett said the water wasn’t deep, but the item being underwater did pose an issue as officials tried to examine the military ordnance and confirm there was no threat. Corbett said a request was made to Georgia Power to drop the water level to help.
A portion of Bay Avenue near the bridge also was closed during the investigation, and police asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
Santiago said the CPD bomb squad and Columbus Fire & EMS were on scene during the investigation.
Fort Benning spokesman Joe Cole told the Ledger-Enquirer during the investigation, “Fort Benning can confirm CPD requested the 789th ordnance disposal company to examine the item recovered. They have responded and are working the scene.”
A Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office boat also was part of the investigation.
This story is ongoing and will be updated as new information becomes available.
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM.