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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A bridge replacement project on Soda Bay Road is nearing completion, according to the director of Lake County Public Works.
While there is weather in the forecast that could hamper the long-running project's final days of work, Public Works Director Scott De Leon said it's hoped that the Cole Creek bridge could be open by next week.
De Leon said rain is expected at week's end, and the contractor is hoping to pave on Wednesday or Thursday.
“We are strongly encouraging them to move the schedule up and get paving done before it rains,” De Leon said.
Once striping and the bridge approach rail are finished, the project should be done. De Leon said it's possible the road could be opened up as soon as Monday.
“I'm going to be pushing on them to work on Saturday and get it open,” De Leon said.
Contractor J.F. Shea from Redding has been working on the bridge replacement project since the summer. De Leon said the contractor began work on June 22 and on July 7 the county began the detour around the project.
Since that time, the stretch of Soda Bay Road from Clark Drive to Sacramento Perch Drive has been closed while work continues, according to Public Works.
De Leon said the project cost to date is $1,280,681, with funding coming from three sources – the Federal Highway Bridge Program, State Transportation Improvement Program and local funds.
The previous bridge, said De Leon, was “beyond old.”
“It was a timber bridge that had been modified,” he said, adding that it was “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.”
As a result of its condition, it qualified for the funds from the federal bridge replacement program, he said.
The project hit a series of delays after the county signed the contract with the designer around 15 years ago, several years before De Leon came on board with the county.
Environmental and archaeological issues caused delays, and required a large amount of study and review, he said.
Once the construction phase started, De Leon said there was a big delay this summer because of issues arising regarding the bridge's steel piling design.
That design had called for driving the pilings 45 feet deep to get a certain load rating. However, there were problems getting the pilings that deep, with only a fraction of them reaching the load rating required. De Leon said that required the project to be stopped and new design work to be completed.
A power line that runs along the project site also required the county to coordinate with Pacific Gas and Electric to have the line shut off to allow for work to take place, De Leon said.
He said scheduling that took time because it needed to happen during the late summer, while PG&E was dealing with the wildland fires in the south county.
Besides the Cole Creek bridge project, the rest of Lake County Public Works' projects are pretty much wrapped up for the year, De Leon said, including bridges on Ackley and Highland Springs roads.
He said some other work will continue through the winter related to Valley fire repairs, including removal of damaged trees in the county right of way, the first phase of which will remove 3,500 trees; sign replacement; and a bridge approach rail replacement.
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