Council approves engineering contracts to assess Elm Street culvert collapse and shore building foundations
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Summary
Council authorized IMEG Consulting ($148,805 plus $20,000 contingency) for building foundation remediation design and HDR ($141,500) for an engineering assessment of the Elm Street culvert collapse that undermined a nearby building column; staff said full repair could extend into 2027.
The Tyler City Council authorized two engineering agreements on contracts to study and address a partial culvert collapse beneath Elm Street that undermined a nearby building column.
Cameron Williams, director of engineering services, described the collapse as a partial failure that undermined a column supporting a building near Bethel Church. “There we did discover a collapse of partial of this culvert, which undermined 1 of the columns for some of those buildings that at that location,” Williams said, recounting the November discovery and immediate shoring and steel-plate work to limit further erosion.
Council authorized an IMEG Consulting Corp agreement for $148,805 to produce an initial (30%) design and cost estimate for shoring and foundation remediation, with a $20,000 contingency for unknowns. Williams said that phase is intended as a stop point to decide whether to proceed to full design and construction services. The council also approved a separate HDR agreement for $141,500 to assess culvert hydraulics, sizing, and alternatives (repair, in-place replacement, or rerouting).
Williams described the culvert as partly dating to the 1930s and said construction materials and condition vary along the corridor; he warned that as the assessment proceeds, additional maintenance or construction-phase work could require temporary street closures and further contracts. He estimated the HDR feasibility study would take about six months and that a full design plus construction could push substantive repairs into 2027 depending on chosen alternatives.
Both motions were approved by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and that the motions carried but does not include a roll-call tally. The contracts are aimed at clarifying responsibilities between public infrastructure and adjacent private property, determining whether the city’s drainage failure caused the undermining, and identifying cost-effective solutions.