Work to begin on Gardner Road bridge over Murray Sluice

The Grundy County Board awarded a $126,962.20 contract to D Construction Tuesday night to repair the bridge over Murray Sluice on Gardner Road in Southern Grundy County.

County Engineer Eric Gibson said this bridge replacement is part of the emergency plans put together in May after two bridges on Gardner Road.

“In order to keep the bridge open through IDOT, we basically had to guarantee that we were going to have it replaced before the snow flies,” Gibson said. “That’s where we’re at. We’re closing it down to get that repair done so we don’t have another significant issue.”

Gibson said the county already had a close call last year when, if the hole was over another six to eight inches, the front end of a truck could’ve been ripped off. He said the beams are still in the same shape they were last year, and it didn’t get any better.

“I understand that the schedule with Grand Ridge Road being closed is probably not what everybody likes to hear, but those three bridges were in about the same shape as the Gardner Road ones are,” GIbson said. “We pulled the guardrail off the last one by EJ Karz in Grand Ridge and pulled the outside beam off. Basically, the rest of the bridge fell in. I don’t want to be in the situation of doing nine bridges in one year either, but that’s where we’re at.”

Gibson said Gardner Road closed at the bridge starting Wednesday, and will be closed until mid-December, possibly shorter. Beams are expected to be delivered on Monday or Tuesday.