Work on permanent bridge construction to begin in 2015
The Fontana Village Board decided Monday to aim for October 2015 as a target date to begin permanent repairs on the village’s South Lakeshore Drive bridge at the Abbey Harbor.
Until then, the bridge will remain open to cars and pedestrians. Trucks and trailers will continue to be rerouted south on Highway 67 to County Highway B, to Indian Hills Road and back to South Lakeshore Drive.
The channel under the bridge is open for boat traffic. The sidewalks under the bridge will remain closed until a new reconstruction project is completed.
The bridge was closed on June 26 after Collins Engineering, Inc., and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) deemed it unsafe because the majority of the bridge’s pilings had buckled.
To approve necessary repair work, the village board held emergency meetings on June 26 and 28. Under the direction of Collins Engineering, Scherrer Construction Company, Inc., completed the work in about four days, despite rainy weather. The bridge reopened on July 3.
“It was the biggest team effort I have seen in 20 years,” Village Trustee George Spadoni said. “As a senior trustee, I have never seen … a bunch of Type A alpha males and alpha females [come together] and put their personalities aside to try and get this thing open.”
Spadoni thanked the entire village staff, Collins Engineering, Scherrer Construction, Walworth State Bank, Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol, Fontana Beach, Geneva Lake police, Abbey Marina staff and the Abbey Resort, among others.
The Abbey Resort provided rooms for out-of-town construction workers, Spadoni said. Pie High Pizza, Gordy’s, Chuck’s and Novak’s, provided food for workers at the job site, he said.
“The whole community has really pulled together,” Village Administrator Dennis Martin said.
“It wouldn’t have gotten done without the efforts of each and every individual involved, especially Al Kaminski, who took notes, took pictures, to let us know what was going on,” said Village Board President Arvid “Pete” Petersen. “Al, thank you so much.”
The board voted unanimously to designate Kaminski as the village’s lead man for the bridge project.
In addition, Petersen recognized the Scherrer construction crew for working on the project 24 hours a day.
“They did some amazing work in six days, and it was quoted to be normally a six-week job,” Spadoni agreed.
“It was my pleasure, it was a great experience in life,” said Todd Wilkins, vice president of business development for Scherrer Construction. “I’ve never seen in my 20-plus years of working with people, the guys who were actually doing the work get endeared into a community and realize the impact they would have if they didn’t finish. It’s pretty rare that you see people in a work set like that get their meals [brought to them]. They really caught on to how special Fontana was.”
However, the work that was completed is a temporary solution, and a permanent structure will need to be constructed in the future.
Before the project can move forward, the village board needs to decide what it would like for the final configuration, such as the size, height and length of the bridge, said Tom Collins, a structural engineer with Collins Engineering.
“That does affect how we go about permitting the Corp of Engineers and the DNR,” Collins said.
Obtaining necessary permits can be the most time-consuming part of the project, Collins said. If the plan involves excavating the waterway, there are state and federal regulations that must be met, he said. National permits can take up to two months to process, he said.
The village board decided Monday that instead of trying to begin permanent reconstruction on the bridge this fall, it would push back the timeline to begin in October 2015 in order to allow for enough time approve a new bridge design and obtain necessary permits.
“You don’t have a very large bridge out there. It’s not unreasonable to think you could construct it in four or five months. I don’t really think that’s a problem. If you want it done right, with people involved, stakeholders in the community, it’s probably better to do it at the end of boating season next year,” Collins said.
Because the bridge will not be replaced until next year, the board discussed maintenance issues that may arise this winter. The bridge will not be able to bear the weight of a salt truck or snowplow, so snow will have to be cleared with something like a skid loader, Collins said.
The project’s timeline also depends on financing. If the village decides to seek state funding, it will take longer than if it goes through a low-interest loan and pays for the project itself, Collins said.
On Monday, the bridge was open to traffic as posted at the 6,000-pound maximum weight. It would take a couple days for the DOT to override previous inspectors’ recommendations and lower the bridge rating, Collins said. After that happens, the village can start applying for eligible funds, he said.
“I think it’s prudent to move forward and submit the application with the lower bridge rating and try to receive funds,” Collins said. “I think there is something similar up in Green Bay with the Leo Frigo Bridge, a similar issue with piles and buckling. They got federal aid. I don’t see why we couldn’t here as well. The worst that can happen is they could turn us down.”
