Wayne County Commissioners today unanimously approved a $9.33 million contract to provide emergency repairs to six support piers under the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge, allowing the free bridge to reopen by early fall.
The bridge, which spans the Trenton channel, has been closed since May, when it was discovered the underlying piers had suffered substantial deterioration. At the time, the 1930s-era bridge was undergoing substantial repairs to its superstructure. That work was about 90 percent complete at the time of last spring’s closing, county officials said.
In addition to the repair work, core borings will also be conducted at each pier once construction is completed and grout has hardened.
County public works officials say the repairs should add 20 to 30 years of life to the bridge, one of two bridges serving the island.
The contract, not to exceed $9,334,055, will be financed through the county road budget.
A virtual town hall on the project is scheduled for early March, featuring township and county officials, along with representatives of the contractor, J.F. Brennan Co. Inc. of La Crosse, Wis. A date and time for that meeting will be announced soon.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans, Public Services Director Beverly Watts and my commission colleagues for their high priority of getting it fixed properly, safely and as soon as possible,” Commissioner Joseph Palamara (D-Grosse Ile Township) said.
“To say the closure of this bridge has been a hardship is an understatement. In reality, it has been quite brutal for all the people and therefore, we are extremely pleased with the action taken today and are very grateful in looking forward to getting the work completed and see traffic moving again.”
“We did not want to cause any hardship to the residents of Grosse Ile, but quite frankly this bridge has been on life support for some time,” Watts said. “We moved up the inspection of this bridge because safety was the No. 1 focus for our residents. I applaud all of the engineers who have been working and planning to get this bridge back for its residents as our goal is to open the bridge by Oct. 1.”
Grosse Ile Supervisor James Budny thanked Watts, Evans, Palamara, and Wayne County Commission Chairwoman Alisha Bell for their efforts in providing funding to secure the emergency repairs.