Steel truss bridge to be demolished at quadruple the anticipated cost.
A year and a half after its removal was approved by the previous Board of Supervisors, sitting supervisors have approved a contract for the demolition of the Goose Creek Bridge, but for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than anticipated.
Supervisors Wednesday night voted unanimously to approve a $648,500 contract with Shirley Contracting Company to demolish the steel truss bridge, which was built in 1932.
In July 2011, the previous board voted to move forward with demolition of the bridge to the tune of $195,000. Supervisors voted for demolition of the bridge rather than spending the around $1.6 million it would take to restore the structure.
However, the need for risk management in the demolition of the bridge has brought the price up by around $435,000. According to the county’s information, the lack of existing bridge drawings to confirm the sizes of the bridge’s structural members means neither the contractor nor the county can prepare a load rating for the bridge. That means the contractor cannot safely place heavy equipment on the bridge, and larger and more expensive equipment must be used to demolish the bridge safely. In addition, the project site is constrained with access to the east side of the bridge limited because of the Rt. 7 bridges.
Read more here.
