Marseilles nets big savings on bridge work

The Marseilles City Council on Wednesday night approved a payment for the replacement of the wearing surface of the North Millrace Bridge, but at a greatly reduced price tag than was expected.

The payment of $86,749 for the resurfacing was far less than the initial estimate of $114,000 provided by D Construction.

The savings came from the exclusion of bolts intended to limit vibration on the bridge, deemed “unnecessary” by City Engineer Michael Etscheid because of potential damage to the bridges beams and a lack of excessive vibration during the project.

He explained there were a few bolts installed, but that process was stopped, resulting in savings to the city.

“They didn’t have any problem with the bridge bouncing when they were doing the resurfacing,” Etscheid said. “The old surface was taken off and the new one put on, and it is done.”

Etscheid thanked D Construction and said the city was lucky to have such savings.

Also at the meeting, Commissioner Gary Lewey thanked the people of Marseilles for allowing him to serve on the council. Lewey was defeated in the April 4 consolidated election and will leave his seat when the new commissioners are sworn in on May 3. Melissa Small and Michael Scheib were elected to the City Council, succeeding Lewey and Nathan Schaefer, who did not run for reelection.

“I’ll still be involved in the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial, so I’m not completely out of this yet,” said Lewey, who started working for the city in 1973, “but it has been a real honor to be on the City Council for 12 years. In those years, we’ve accomplished an awful lot and with the new council members coming in, I’d like to see it keep progressing.”