Construction on 2 city bridges, flood mitigation moving along
Construction on two bridges in Butler, on West Brady Street and West Penn Street, is running on schedule, and should be done in a few months.
John Evans, the City of Butler’s building code official, said the contractor for the project, Thomas Construction of Grove City, is running one crew on each bridge to complete phase two of the $2.3 million Sullivan Run Control Project which will help mitigate flooding on the two streets.
The projects will free up space underneath the bridges so more water can run through without building up onto the streets.
“The Brady Street bridge, it was a restriction; by putting the culvert in, it will allow more water to flow through,” Evans said. “On Penn Street, they are getting ready to dig up and prepare a space for the box culvert.”
Construction on the Brady Street bridge began at the end of December, and it began on the Penn Street bridge Feb. 28.
Sandra Clune, project manager for Thomas Construction, said the West Brady Street bridge is scheduled to be completed in early-June, while the West Penn Street bridge is scheduled to be completed in early-August. She said that while weather slowed the construction progress slightly, the project has not been affected by supply chain issues.
“We are running two separate crews, one crew for West Brady Street bridge and another crew for the West Penn Street bridge,” Clune said via email. “The work at each site was always planned to run concurrently.”
Clune also said construction on the West Brady Street bridge was able to begin earlier than anticipated, which allowed the project to get ahead of the weather.
West Brady Street is closed between Mitchell Avenue and Snyder Avenue, and West Penn Street is closed between Miller Avenue and Olive Street, and each bridge will remain closed for the duration of construction.
Evans said the city may pursue further projects to mitigate Sullivan Run flooding, but it depends on the available funding and timing of other projects.
“This will complete phase two, and I'm not sure if there is going to be a phase three or phase four,” Evans said. “We're wanting to get these done before we think about doing another phase.”
