Rock Island City Council met October 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the Council:
City Manager Randy Tweet introduced the topic for the study session: an update on the I-74 River Bridge Project. Present were Ryan Hippen, who is a construction field engineer with Illinois Department of Transportation; Kristina Kuehling who is handling public relations and public outreach; and Jim Threadgill who is on the general engineering consultant team and is overseeing the entire corridor project.
Mr. Hippen said it is a very unique project with two state agencies, the Illinois and Iowa Departments of Transportation. He is the lead person representing the Illinois side and Danielle Mulholland is the project manager for the Iowa corridor. The construction engineering and inspection team comprises Bruner, Cooper and Zuck Inc.; HNTB; and McClure Engineering Associates Inc. Benesch is the design team. Alderman Mayberry asked if McClure should be IMEG as they were recently bought out. It is the local Quad Cities McClure Engineering; no one was sure if the name had changed yet.
The lead contractors on the project are Lunda Construction Co. for the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge; Civil Constructors Inc. for the Iowa westbound viaduct; and Kraemer North America for the Illinois viaduct and ramp work. Mr. Hippen stated it is a once in a lifetime project with five communities involved and partners in the project. The project cost is estimated to be $1.2 billion with federal and state funding and local communities funding local enhancements. For comparison purposes, Mr. Hippen said IDOT projects in one year in District 2 may be $70 or $80 million.
Mr. Hippen reviewed the project corridor on maps. The project is only partially funded. Eventually they want to complete the northern alignment to I-80 in Iowa. The maps show the existing versus the new alignment. Mr. Hippen said it was a good location as the bridge can be built offline for the most part. He presented architectural renderings of the conceptual design of a twin basket arch structure. Alderman Spurgetis asked about the building in the one rendering. Mr. Hippen said it is a pedestrian elevator on the east side of the bridge to get to the multi-use path to go across the river. He called it a drop-down structure. Ms. Kuehling said it is in Bettendorf and it will be a hospital-size elevator for people and bikes.
Mr. Hippen reviewed some of the details of the bridge. It will have a 100-year life span once it is built. It is 162 feet from the bottom to the top. It is twice as wide as the current bridge with full shoulders. There will be four lanes on each side on the bridge. The bridge will also have a health monitoring system with sensors throughout the structure to monitor it. The substructure will have piers that are designed to withstand barge impacts and there is stainless steel reinforcement in the deck. Alderman Spurgetis asked when the Centennial Bridge was built. Mr. Tweet said he believed it was built in the 1930s. Mr. Hippen said there is a multi-use path that is 14 feet wide. In the middle of the bridge, there will be a scenic overlook with a glass bottom. Alderman Mayberry asked when the I-74 bridge was built. One of the bridges was built in the 1930s and the second one was built in the early 1960s. Mayor Thoms said it used to be a toll bridge.
Mr. Hippen reviewed the project schedule. The project is in the construction phase now which started in July. It will be complete in three and a half years. In 2021, the old bridge will be demolished. Phase 3 will be the north alignment to I-80; funding has yet to be determined for this phase. The construction staging of three and a half years is a very aggressive schedule; originally the schedule was eight years. In 2019, the westbound through traffic will be closed. By closing the westbound side, it enables the project to be completed sooner.
Alderman Geenen asked how many construction jobs will be created with the project. Ms. Kuehling said they don't know yet. Mr. Hippen and Mr. Threadgill reviewed the contracts that have been let. Alderman Spurgetis asked how the funding was divided between Illinois and Iowa. Mr. Hippen said Iowa is the lead agency for the bridge; but it is a 50/50 cost share between the two states. Federal funds account for 80% of the cost with the states picking up 20% of the cost. Alderman Mayberry asked if the project was meeting disadvantaged and minority standards. Ms. Kuehling said both Illinois and Iowa have their own minority standards; DBE outreach meetings were held prior to the lettings and will continue to be held before lettings. Alderman Geenen asked is there is a report back or accountability of the DBEs standards being met. Mr. Hippen responded that each state has an office that oversees the DBE utilization plan for each contract. Alderman Mayberry said there is no diversity with the trucks currently hauling dirt. Mr. Threadgill explained further the DBE goals and the process for monitoring the standards.
Alderman Mayberry asked if the $1.2 billion cost included the demolition of the old bridge; Mr. Threadgill replied yes, it does. Mr. Hippen said the current construction activity is on the Illinois approach to the bridge at River Drive. They are building an embankment to meet the new bridge and there is the reconstruction of 7th Avenue and 19th Street in Moline. Mayor Thoms asked if there will be notifications on I-280 for detours. Mr. Hippen replied the interstate is remaining open; if there is a ramp closure, there will be signs. Mayor Thoms said to help with the local congestion, signs should be directing traffic to I-280 or to the Centennial Bridge. Mr. Hippen said in 2019, with the westbound closure, there will be marked detours redirecting traffic. Alderman Tollenaer asked how long do they expect the bridge to be closed. Westbound traffic will be closed for the entire construction season. Mr. Hippen said in 2019, there will be one lane open across the bridge for local access off River Drive. Mayor Thoms suggested they divert traffic to Rock Island to gain access to the Centennial Bridge.
Mr. Hippen said Lunda is the prime bridge contractor. They are starting to drill shafts which are concrete columns of steel into the bedrock for piers and anchoring the substructures. This will continue for all of next year. Alderman Mayberry asked where is Lunda headquartered. Ms. Kuehling said they are located in Wisconsin. Mr. Hippen said Civil Constructors is working on the Iowa side building the pier stems reinforced with rebar. The engineers did a mock-up of the curvilinear pier shaft which went well with testing procedures and methods.
Alderman Geenen said there is a 5% DBE goal; is there a requirement for a percentage of local jobs/workers. Mr. Hippen said no; the 2nd contract was just let and Walsh was the low bidder. Walsh is a Chicago company. Mr. Threadgill said the contractors work with the unions to man the projects. Mayor Thoms said Rock Island company Valley Construction was a sub- contractor. Mr. Hippen gave some additional background on local hiring of workers.
Mr. Threadgill began discussing future construction activity. On September 22, there was a letting for the 7th Avenue to Avenue of the Cities portion of the project. It will probably take at least 30 days to award the bid to Walsh. That portion of the project is $83 million. In 2018 and 2019, there will be additional lettings including the median storm sewer and ramp (westbound) tentatively set for February 2018 letting; the eastbound viaduct tentatively set for letting in September 2019; and the mainline and ramps tentatively set for letting in January 2019. The last project will have only one year to complete its work. These are very tight construction schedules.
Mr. Threadgill reviewed the interstate detour routes for 2019 and 2020. Westbound traffic will be detoured to Centennial Bridge and I-280 or I-80. There will be traffic issues in 2019 especially if heading west. Alderman Mayberry asked how many vehicles cross the bridge. Ms. Kuehling said the average daily traffic is 700,000. She said they are doing lots of outreach with media, associations, and through signage especially with the detours coming up in 2019. Mr. Threadgill explained in greater detail their outreach and public relations efforts and the agencies they have been coordinating with throughout the process. A groundbreaking was held in June. They continue to hold public meetings as needed. They also have an emergency coordination plan and have been attending CARS and MABAS meetings. Mr. Threadgill said they are coordinating with the utilities, affected businesses, and event coordinators. There is a speakers bureau available too. They are utilizing a wide range of social media and have a hotline (1-866-I74- 4ALL) and website (I74RiverBridge.com).
Alderman Spurgetis suggested they update their map to show the IL 92 interchange for east/west travel and direct people into Rock Island.
The study session concluded at 6:40 p.m.
http://www.rigov.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10022017-66
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