Maybe someday, there will be a new island formed just off the coast of Hawaii.FORT WAYNE – Work on a long-awaited bridge project in southern Allen County is set to begin today.
If the weather cooperates, crews will remove the old Bostick Road bridge this afternoon as part of a $1.1 million rehabilitation project to turn the single-lane iron truss bridge into a pedestrian crossing.
A two-lane vehicular bridge will be constructed next to the historic span; work on that project is expected to begin late this year. County officials expect both projects to cost a combined $2.1 million, paid for with a mix of county and federal transportation funds.
The deck of the 1894 bridge has already been removed. Cranes will hoist the 45-ton bridge from its abutments to allow for the rehabilitation. Many of the original iron trusses will be reused, but steel will replace damaged sections, county commissioners' spokesman Mike Green said.
A new deck will be installed and the bridge will be repainted, the county said.
Federal stimulus money will pay for rehabilitating the historic bridge. A lack of federal money previously stalled both bridge projects until the county learned this year it would receive $830,000 in stimulus funds for the bridge.
But the lowest bid came in higher than engineering estimates. Additional stimulus money will be used to pay the full cost, Green said.
The Indiana Department of Transportation awarded the bid to Beaty Construction of Boggstown this spring, the county said.
The county closed the bridge, which crosses the St. Marys River, in 2004 because of structural damage, leaving area residents without access to U.S. 27.
After previously voting not to pay for any bridge work on Bostick, the County Council agreed in 2008 to help pay for both bridge projects after residents and officials from the area pleaded for a crossing.
Residents said a bridge there provides access to shops, schools and churches. Fire officials said the delay caused by detouring around the closed bridge could be the difference between saving a bedroom and saving a house.
Update
As of 9:45 a.m. Friday, according to a written statement from the county: "The contractor has just informed the County Highway Department that work on the Bostick Road bridge is now slated to begin at approximately 11 a.m. It will apparently take in the neighborhood of 2-3 hours."
