The project to replace the southbound section of the Fox Mill Run bridge on Main Street in Gloucester has been delayed at least several weeks while transportation officials scurry to get a permit they were supposed to have in hand before the project started this fall.

Kelly Hannon, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said Tuesday that a VDOT official realized last week that they had not obtained a needed soil disturbance permit from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. Such a permit is needed whenever a construction project disturbs more than 2,500 square feet of soil, which the Fox Mill project will.

Therefore, Hannon said the contractor, Bryant Contracting Inc. of Toano, halted all work that might disturb any soil in the work zone on Dec. 14 and plans to do only portions of the project that will not impact the soil until a permit can be obtained from DCR. Hannon said she expects that VDOT will receive the permit by early January and then c...