$880K in repairs to start on Jeannette bridge 'in really bad shape'

Work is expected to start in November on a small bridge that carries South Sixth Street over Brush Creek in Jeannette.

Council on Thursday accepted a bid of just over $882,000 from CH&D Enterprises for the project. City Manager Ethan Keedy said the presumptive lowest bid was deemed to be not in compliance, so officials selected the next lowest bidder.

Seven bids were received, according to engineer Ed Antonacci.

The bridge likely will be closed for construction starting in November until June.

It will be completely reconstructed and that section of South Sixth Street will be paved, among other upgrades, Keedy said. The structure is deteriorating and numerous potholes have been covered over. A sidewalk on one side of the bridge has been blocked off to pedestrians.

“That is in really bad shape,” he said. “If you look at the bridge, you can see how it’s sinking in the center.”

The weight limit currently is 23 tons, which forces truck traffic related to Elliott Group’s nearby cryogenic pump test stand facility to use other streets, he said.

The project calls for three of six bridge beams to be replaced and the other three to be sandblasted and painted.

“It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done,” Mayor Curtis Antoniak said.

The city received a grant of nearly $640,000 in 2021 from State Sen. Kim Ward and a $100,000 grant through the federal American Rescue Plan to pay for the project. The state grant requires a 30% match and Keedy said about $200,000 will be paid by the city, likely through liquid fuels revenue and the capital reserve.