St. Charles moving ahead with bridge repairs

St. Charles is moving ahead with repairs to its bridges.

At the City Council meeting Sept. 6, alderpersons approved a $283,587 contract with Herlihy Mid-Continent Company for repairs to the Second and Third avenue bridges along with the Main Street Bridge alcoves.

The contract is higher than the budgeted amount of $255,000 for the repairs. City staff proposes to use funds budgeted for construction engineering to cover the additional construction cost.

The city’s public works engineering staff will oversee construction.

“Staff do not believe that rebidding will reduce costs in the current environment,” St. Charles public works manager for engineering Ken Jay said in a memo to alderpersons.

Improvements will include hard-armoring the slopewalls beneath the Second and Third Avenue bridges, painting exposed rebar on the underside of the Second and Third Avenue bridges, curb repairs, driving surface deck sealing and concrete repairs and crack sealing of the alcoves on Main Street Bridge.

The work is expected to begin this month, with substantial completion in November, Jay said. The city of St. Charles owns and maintains eight vehicular and pedestrian bridges.

The bridges are inspected on one, two or four-year cycles depending on factors that include bridge condition and span lengths, Jay said.

“After each inspection, detailed reports are provided to city staff,” he said. “Reports typically include recommended repairs and timelines.”