City receives grant to rehabilitate Richland Bridge

As the academic school year comes to an end, the city is setting up construction for the rehabilitation of the Richland Avenue Bridge over Oxbow Creek.The project, expected to cost approximately $3.5 million for design and construction, will consist of the removal of the existing concrete deck andthe installment and restoration of railings, two sidewalks, lights and two murals on the north and south sides of the bridge.“The southern mural is going to be a depiction of the old Hocking River, and the northern mural will display the old train and its route,” Tom O’Bryan, project manager and operations engineer at Shelly and Sands, Inc. said—the company that bid on Aug. 31, 2012 for the construction contract and was later awarded.Jones-Stuckey completed the project design and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. was selected for construction engineering services.The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) municipal bridge credit funds and local funds will cover the cost of the project. The FHWA is administered through the Ohio Department of Transportation.“I believe Ohio University has utilities like electric, steam pipes, fiber optic cables and other underneath the bridge so we are working with them during the bridge replacement also,” Mayor Paul Wiehl said.The bridge was built in 1933.“If you walk underneath that bridge it is in pretty bad shape; the metal is rusted. It is badly in need of restoration,” At-Large City Council Rep. Elahu Gosney said. “It is a critical bridge for city traffic and its maintenance is our obligation.”Construction for the project is expected to start on May 6 and end on Oct. 25. A single lane is expected to be open, however, by Aug. 21. “By the first day of classes, is the goal,” Gosney said.The project development started in 2010 and continued through 2012.“We were planning to do it this past summer, but the bids came in too high and OU was switching to semesters; making the summer shorter,” Wiehl said.Due to the rescheduled academic year, the summer of 2013 will be two weeks longer, giving construction more time before the fall semester picks back up.“It is unimaginable what conditions would be like if this was closed during the school year,” said Gosney. Alternate routes through Shafer Street and South Green Drive will be established during construction.“We have been doing a lot of work to make the city more pedestrian and bicycle friendly and part of that is making these areas safe.”