By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
This spring will bring at least three bridge replacement projects to the Peoria County portion of The Weekly Post circulation area.
One of the projects is already underway, another has been limited to one lane for the past few months and another has yet to break ground.
The largest and most costly project involves the Illinois Route 8 bridge near Edwards, which carries the road over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.
That bridge was closed in the summer of 2018 after an inspection found that a concrete pier had deteriorated. The pier was reinforced and the bridge reopened later that year. The bridge had already been on a replacement list for several years at that time, but work was only able to move forward once funds were allocated in the Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program.
According to Paul Wappel, a public information officer with the Illinois Department of Transportation, work so far in the $13 million dollar project has focused mostly on tree removal and earthwork for a new bridge that will be located about 150 feet east of the existing structure.
He said that areas at each end of the new bridge have been cleared of trees and sand. Soil has been placed in those areas to start building the new roadway up to match the elevation of the new structure.
Land acquisition for the project cost $695,000 according to an IDOT report on Fiscal Year 2020-2025 Rebuild Illinois projects.
“This year, work will primarily be continuing to build up the embankment with soil north and south of the railroad tracks and to construct the footings and piers of the new bridge. The contractor plans to set the beams for the new structure late in 2022 and work on the new bridge itself will continue into early 2023.”
The contractor will be allowed to close Route 8 starting on May 1, 2023. Wappel said work will then be done to remove existing pavement, remove the old bridge, complete remaining earthwork and build the new roadway to match the new bridge.
Work is expected to be done and reopened to traffic by November of 2023, Wappel said.
Average daily traffic on the bridge is 2,600 vehicles, with 6 percent of those being trucks.
Further west on Route 8, just one-half mile east of Oak Hill, a bridge over Kickapoo Creek has been limited to one lane only for the past few months.
According to Wappel, “One of the precast concrete deck beams in the middle of the eastbound lane has deteriorated to the point where the bridge would have required a severe load posting at much less than legal loads. In order to avoid the load posting, the Department erected temporary traffic signals to restrict traffic to one lane at a time in the westbound lane until the bad beam can be shored from below.”
The estimated cost of replacing the bridge is $2 million, with land acquisition completed in 2020 costing $150,000.
Wappel said that IDOT’s “Day Labor forces” will do the bridge work this spring.
“They couldn’t get to it before winter because of the recent delays in procuring a steel beam of the proper size,” he said.
Peoria County also has a nearby bridge project planned for this spring. According to Amy McLaren, engineer for the Peoria County Highway Department, a bridge on Dogtown Lane just north of the intersection of Dogtown and Meehan Road will be rebuilt at an estimated cost of $2 million.
“The project will require the complete closure of Dogtown Lane,” McLaren said. “A marked detour will be posted.”
Work is expected to be completed by this fall.
