(5/25) The Hickory Bridge Road Bridge rehabilitation project, a project four years in the making, will soon be underway, after months of back and forth between Franklin and Hamiltonban Township.

The bridge, which lies on both Franklin and Hamiltonban townships, initially received attention back in 2013, when both municipalities entered into an agreement to split the costs of having an engineering study completed. The initial cost of repairs ranged from $26,600 - $36,934, but all proposals were turned down. Three years later another study was done and the estimated cost ranged from $93,000 - $116,000. The project was bid out at that time, but only one bid was received, and it was well over the estimated cost, coming in at $149,000.

Both townships rejected the single bid, regrouped and came up with three viable options: completing the project in-house, re-bidding the project again in the fall in hopes of receiving more bidders at a lower cost, or constructing a different style bridge. At the time, both townships discussed that completing the project in-house would be doable and could be cost effective. However, Brandon Guiher, the Project Engineer, recommended the project be bid out again in the fall to see what kind of response it may receive.

After bidding the project out again this past fall, both townships received more responses, but all still came in well over the original estimated cost. The lowest bid received was $137,706. Franklin Township Supervisors proposed constructing a box culvert at an approximate cost of $96,000. This project would not be done in-house, but would be outsourced to another company. As proposed, the finished bridge would be a two-lane bridge that would span about twenty-four feet in width, with new guardrails. The new bridge would be completed faster than the originally proposed bridge plan, ideally only taking about five weeks to complete.

The box culvert style bridge was bid out, but only one bid was received from Keystone Concrete Products with a 20’ span x 6’ rise x 24’ wide culvert with wing walls in the amount of $76,000. Hamiltonban questioned if it included blacktop, materials etc, however, the bid was only for the box culvert to be supplied by Keystone Concrete Products.

From this point, Hamiltonban Township’s Solicitor Matthew Battersby recommended Franklin Township draw up an inter-municipal agreement to be brought back to Hamiltonban, and on May 3, the inter-municipal agreement was signed. According to the agreement, Franklin Township will act as the Contractor and almost all the costs will be split between both townships 50/50. Both townships will pay their own attorney fees, but they will share engineering costs estimated at $2,000, as well as the cost of milling and blacktop estimated at $3,075. As part of the agreement, Hamiltonban will pay any increased costs over this amount for both the blacktop and the hauling. There are also additional costs for guide rail, detour signs and the removal of one tree. The total estimated cost for this project is $105,000.

Franklin is ordering a concrete box culvert from Keystone Concrete located in New Holland at a cost of $76,000, and delivery is expected in 90 days, so it should arrive in August. Expected completion for the project is by mid September.