The Pulaski County Commissioners again denied a claim submitted by Gregory Phillips and Marcia Combs that stemmed from the Monterey Bridge project.
Their business was displaced due to the bridge project and Phillips and Combs were offered a settlement to vacate the building so the project could move forward.
The Monterey bridge, or bridge 291, is now open to traffic.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday afternoon to officially open the bridge that had been under construction since March. The project had been on the drawing board for several years.
Commissioner Larry Brady attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and was happy with the work of all involved.
The Monterey Bridge project is nearing completion.
While the weather has not played into the construction crew’s favor, it is expected to finish up by Thanksgiving. Jeff Larrison from United Consulting said a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held to formally end the project and that will be set after the 8th of November.
The deadline for relocation expenses stemming from the Monterey Bridge construction project has come and gone, according to United Consulting’s Jeff Larrison. He told the county commissioners that he received a notice explaining the the deadline has passed and some expenses still had not been turned in, raising the question of whether or not the commissioners would like to still allow those expenses to be filed.
Bret Smiley, construction manager with United Consulting, told WKVI that concrete has been poured this week. The rail wall, the bridge deck and approaches have been poured. He said he did testing and it was the smoothest concrete pour that he’s been privy to.
The existing bridge across the Tippecanoe River heading north out of Monterey will be closed to all but emergency traffic for up to 60 days starting Monday. Pulaski County Highway Superintendent Mark Fox says the closure is necessary in order to pour the approaches to the new bridge that is being built alongside the old structure. The old bridge will remain in place as a pedestrian crossing once the new structure is finished. It has been deemed historic and cannot be removed, but an inspection found that it can no longer withstand the weight of vehicle traffic and needs to be replaced.
After a few weeks of battling high water issues, the crew working on the Monterey Bridge project is moving right along.
Bret Smiley of United Consulting reported that the beams have been set and the crews are placing decking at this juncture of the project. Overhang jacks are being installed along the outside beams and they are installing decking on them as well. Once the deck is completely prepared, the next step will be the placement of rebar throughout the deck.
The project appears to be on schedule and the project should be completed in October.
The storms that rolled through the Pulaski County area last week did affect the Monterey Bridge project.
Bret Smiley, construction manager with United Consulting, said that work has halted on the project for this week as flooding was an issue. A contractor will be on-site to clear water from the area today or tomorrow to prepare for more concrete work on Monday.
The Monterey Bridge project is moving along despite the water issues experienced in April.
Bret Smiley, construction manager with United Consulting, said there was a bit of a flooding issue at the southern end of the bridge project, but that isn’t affecting the work being done this week on the north side of the bridge. The south side of the bridge project had been underwater and the workers have been working around that issue. LaPorte Construction built up a makeshift berm to help with erosion issues and to push back the river water.
Rain dates were built into the original construction schedule so Smiley noted the project is on schedule. They are drive piling the north side of the bridge so beams can be set this week and situating the crane so it can safely operate. Smiley said the ground is swelled with water and unstable so they are creating a safe platform for the crane.
Smiley said the retaining walls will be built in the next week or so.
The Pulaski County Council this week approved a $150,000 transfer from the funds dedicated to constructing a new bridge on County Road 625 East to the Haschell Bridge repair project. Recently appointed Highway Superintendent Mark Fox told the council at their meeting last night that the current deck for the bridge will be milled and the existing asphalt will be removed before workers remove a quarter-inch of existing concrete and perform full-depth patching to fill any potholes forming on the deck.
The Monterey Bridge project is expected to begin once the weather breaks.
Jeff Larrison of United Consulting, the company involved in the engineering and planning for the project, said a pre-construction meeting with the Indiana Department of Transportation is set for Thursday, March 7 to discuss details of the project and set a start date. All of the paperwork has been submitted and contracts have been signed for the construction. A start date is the only issue left to be decided.
A new bridge will be constructed adjacent to the old bridge in Monterey. Bridge 291 has been deemed a historic structure so the new bridge will not be demolished. Larrison will report a construction date when it is decided next week.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week signed a revised contract for the inspection of the Monterey Bridge. Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners this week that the original construction cost estimate came in at around $1.55 million, but the bids came in lower than expected, prompting a new revision to the inspection contract with a lower price.
The Pulaski County Commissioners received an update yesterday regarding the status of the Bridge 291 project. Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners that the right-of-ways have been cleared through INDOT, and the necessary documents have been submitted, however, INDOT has pushed several projects back to October.
Larrison said that the county has met all the deadlines, but they have to play by INDOT’s rules – which means opening bids for construction of the new bridge will not take place until October, setting them back several months. Larrison explained that after the bid is let, there is a 30 – 45 day period to choose a winning bid, which means construction could be delayed to as late as November.
Because of this delay, Larrison says a minimal amount of construction will take place before winter, but the majority of the work will take place come spring.
The land acquisition process is underway for the Monterey Bridge project. The project involves the construction of a new bridge to route traffic away from the Monterey Bridge, which is too small and unsafe for regular traffic but cannot be removed because of its historical nature.
Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners this week that the purchase of six of the nine parcels of land to be acquired were ready to be signed by the commissioners. Another parcel of land in the size of 83 square feet was purchased for $400 and did not require a signature. There is a conflict with the purchase of the remaining two parcels, however, as counter-offers were returned by the landowners who requested more money than the county had offered.
One of the landowners was offered $43,000 for his property, but had an appraisal performed himself that valued the land at $63,000, but Larrison says that appraisal was very flawed in how it calculated that figure. A motion was passed to raise their offer to $48,000 for the property.
A counter-offer was also received from the landowners of the second parcel. The county originally offered $11,300 for the parcel, but the landowner countered with $15,900, which the commissioners ultimately agreed to.
If the properties are acquired in time for the bids to be let in spring, Larrison is hopeful that construction on the new bridge will be finished before winter.