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Work to remove 140,000 cubic yards of dirt and gravel from the Indian River bridge embankments is set to begin the last week of April.
A $1.4 million contract was awarded to Richard E. Pierson Construction Co. of Middletown, and work is expected to take about four months to be completed before Labor Day weekend.
Darrel Cole, director of Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) public relations, said the contractor is aware of the sensitivity of traffic and tourists in the area during the summer. Special restrictions have been put in place to prohibit work after noon on Fridays during the summer and holiday weekends.
Problems surfaced last year with the massive 40-foot embankments on both sides of the inlet. They have not settled as expected and continue to shift to the west damaging nearby roads, said Jason Gleockler, DelDOT spokesman.
“Contrary to predictions, the movement has not stopped,” he said.
Not all material will be removed, as approximately 20 feet of the embankment will remain to be used as approaches under the new bridge design, Gleockler said.
DelDOT officials have selected a new bridge design with longer approaches, with pillars replacing the large embankments. The new bridge, at 2,600 feet long, will be about 1,200 feet longer than the original design.
The bridge replacement contract is expected to be awarded this summer with pre-construction work starting by early fall. The new $150 million bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic by December 2011.
Approximately 70,000 cubic yards of material will be used for a parking area in the northwest corner of Delaware Seashore State Park near the inlet.
The remaining 70,000 cubic yards will be distributed to the state’s Stockley borrow bit near Millsboro and Quillen borrow pit near Millville.
Some stone will be stored at DelDOT’s Gravel Hill maintenance yard near Georgetown.
Gleockler said material stored at state sites will be available for future projects, which was a requirement for the Federal Highway Administration to participate in the cost.
Cole said the exact percentages of federal and state contributions to the contract were not known, but a fair estimate would be 80 percent from the state and 20 percent from the federal government.
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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