Setback for Batavia bridge

Completion of the Batavia bridge will be delayed by at least a week.

That will push back a critical part of the bridge construction that requires 50-degree weather into the middle of December.

"We certainly want to complete the bridge this year, and weather permitting, we will," city bridge liaison Terry Heffron said. "Certainly the further we go into December, the harder it is to get the kind of weather to do this."

The construction project has had several setbacks of a few days each recently, racking up about a week to a week and a half in delays, Heffron said.

Most recently, contractors got the wrong form liners for retaining walls and had to wait for new ones to come. It was an aesthetic issue, Heffron said.

"We wanted to make sure the job came out right," he said.

The original completion date for the bridge was Dec. 14.

Heavy rains at the beginning of the project started it off with several weeks of delays. Contractors Illinois Construction Corp. asked for a three-week full closure of the bridge to catch up in August, but were denied by the city council.

One of the last things that needs to be done is post-tensioning and grouting inside, Heffron said. The temperature outside must be at least 50 degrees for the task.

But contractors may be able to do the job with lower temperatures by taking advantage of heat produced when the concrete on the bridge cures, Heffron said.

"We're getting into a gray area in terms of completion," he said.

Through its contract, the city has the ability to fine contractors $7,500 a day for each day it goes past the Dec. 14 deadline. The bridge will need to be closed for two weeks at the end of construction.

City Administrator Bill McGrath said the city would talk about assessing penalties later "only if we have to."