Cassville’s 7th Street bridge closed until reconstruction complete
Damage sustained during heavy rains accelerates project
Cassville’s 7th Street bridge was taken out by recent rains over last weekend. Demolition of the bridge, including removing the whistles is in process. The city council will choose a bid to rebuild the bridge at the May 8 City Council meeting.
April 26, 2017
Charlea Estes
Due to heavy rains over the weekend, the demolition phase of the 7th Street bridge in Cassville was bumped up to this week. City of Cassville employees began the process this week, according to city administrator Steve Walensky.
The bridge was first damaged during the severe flooding in 2015 that led to a state of emergency in Barry County. Repairs were made to the bridge in the meantime while the city applied for FEMA assistance to fund a remediation effort to reconstruct the bridge in a way that would prevent future Flat Creek flooding from damaging the bridge and taking it out of commission.
Walensky said, “The initial damage in 2015 came, and then we went through the process with FEMA. We finally got approved for our funding and have been working on redesign efforts, but that rain came and damaged it again, and that accelerated our demolition time table.” He added that the city will not know when the bridge will be reopened until a construction bid is accepted at the May 8 City Council meeting.
The city’s bid packets are due tomorrow, Thursday, April 27. The bid request included a full reconstruction of the bridge, and 7th Street will be closed at that junction with Flat Creek until that work is complete.
Walensky said, “We are anticipating over $30,000 to rebuild. That was the preliminary estimate.” He added that the bid will determine how much of the bridge is paid for by FEMA.
All demolition efforts were completed by city employees. Walensky said that no additional damage in other areas has been reported from recent storms.
Charlea Estes
Due to heavy rains over the weekend, the demolition phase of the 7th Street bridge in Cassville was bumped up to this week. City of Cassville employees began the process this week, according to city administrator Steve Walensky.
The bridge was first damaged during the severe flooding in 2015 that led to a state of emergency in Barry County. Repairs were made to the bridge in the meantime while the city applied for FEMA assistance to fund a remediation effort to reconstruct the bridge in a way that would prevent future Flat Creek flooding from damaging the bridge and taking it out of commission.
Walensky said, “The initial damage in 2015 came, and then we went through the process with FEMA. We finally got approved for our funding and have been working on redesign efforts, but that rain came and damaged it again, and that accelerated our demolition time table.” He added that the city will not know when the bridge will be reopened until a construction bid is accepted at the May 8 City Council meeting.
The city’s bid packets are due tomorrow, Thursday, April 27. The bid request included a full reconstruction of the bridge, and 7th Street will be closed at that junction with Flat Creek until that work is complete.
Walensky said, “We are anticipating over $30,000 to rebuild. That was the preliminary estimate.” He added that the bid will determine how much of the bridge is paid for by FEMA.
All demolition efforts were completed by city employees. Walensky said that no additional damage in other areas has been reported from recent storms.