Replacing the washed out River Rd. bridge in Seneca won’t be as fast as anyone likes no matter how it happens. Village Engineer Casey McCollom says it could take up to two years. It could also cost up to $1.2 million. The village is looking at grants, asking for other county and state help, and could put its regular street projects on hold. It could also borrow money through a bond issue.
McCollom told Village Board members tonight, they could cut the new bridge construction timeline by a few months if they pay for designs now. If the village uses grants to pay for that work, there are more rules to follow and the village has to wait for the money. Of course, paying for the design work first means no grants to help pay for that phase.
McCollom says building a new bridge isn’t as simple as replacing what was there. It has to be up to current bridge construction requirements and cross a channel that flood water widened last Monday night when it eroded the land under and next to the bridge.
The old bridge went up in the 1960’s. A new bridge would probably have to be wider and support more weight. And to accommodate the wider waterway under it, a new one would be 100 feet long–twice the old bridge’s length. All that could require the city to obtain more right of way. And grants covering just the construction come with extra rules too.
In the quest for bridge money, Mayor Jeff Olson says he’ll speak with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday and the Illinois Department of Transportation on Thursday.