BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials expect to know by November what to do and how much it will cost to rehabilitate the historic War Eagle Bridge.
County Judge Bob Clinard said Monday that he had agreed to work with Great River Engineering of Springfield, Mo., on pre-construction phases of the project. Clinard told the members of the Quorum Court's Transportation Committee that he expects to have a signed contract within the next few days.
Jason Sivils, an engineer with Great River, told the justices of the peace that the company has done extensive work on older truss bridges in Missouri, and the work has ranged from historic preservation, which concerned mainly keeping the historic appearance of the bridges, to projects meant to keep the bridges in use.
Clinard, the county's chief administrator, told the committee the work by Great River will be done in three phases. The company will inspect the bridge and review past engineering reports and state Highway and Transportation Department inspection reports to determine the work needed.
The company and county officials will meet with the Highway Department and any other entities that might need to be involved to determine an acceptable goal for the bridge project and develop preliminary cost estimates. Clinard said that phase is expected to take four months and will cost the county about $35,000.
The second phase, which will take about 12 months, woulf include the design work.
Clinard said that would increase the county's costs to $113,000 before making a decision on any construction work.
Metro on 07/08/2015