Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure And Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Essex County awards major bridge engineering contract, moves NJDOT grant applications for two bridge replacements
Summary
County public-works staff presented and the board approved multiple construction and engineering contracts, including a $21.6M engineering award for the Bridge Street Bridge replacement (preliminary engineering phase) and a $948,199 construction contract for a Montclair culvert; the board also authorized NJDOT grant applications totaling approximately $2.01M for two additional bridge replacements.
Essex County’s Department of Public Works briefed the board on several transportation contracts and funding requests, and the commissioners approved the items by roll call.
David Antonio, on behalf of the Department of Public Works, described item 12: the selection of Majeski and Masters to perform preliminary engineering design for replacing the Bridge Street Bridge over the Passaic River (Newark to Harrison). The engineering award was described as the next step in the federal concept-delivery process; the presentation indicated the firm submitted the highest-rated proposal and that federal funds will support this engineering phase. Richard Jackson, vice president of Majeski and Masters, told the board the preliminary-engineering phase will run roughly two years followed by a three-year construction-support period under the five-year contract arrangement.
The board also approved a construction contract to Sparwick Contracting for a culvert/bridge replacement on Abel Street in Montclair (item 13) with a low bid of $948,199 and an estimated six-month construction window beginning in spring; the project is fully funded with an NJDOT grant. DPW reported a change order to KS Engineers for construction engineering on the Broadway resurfacing program, increasing the not-to-exceed amount by $49,919 (NJDOT funds) to cover additional construction-support hours.
Antonio also summarized a shared-services agreement renewal with Hudson County for joint operation and repair of three bi-county movable bridges (Bridge Street Bridge, Clay Street Bridge and Jackson Street Bridge), a resolution consenting to a new NJ Transit-requested bus stop in East Orange, and adoption of a county Road Safety Action Plan to position candidate projects for federal Safe Streets-style funding. The board authorized submittal of an NJDOT local-bridge grant application for two bridge replacements (Draper Terrace in Montclair and North Livingston Avenue in Roseland) totaling $2,009,725 from the state Transportation Trust Fund.
Commissioners asked routine questions about environmental documentation and traffic-detour impacts; Majeski and Masters said a categorical-exclusion level environmental document was produced during preliminary engineering and that short-term detours (Clay Street) will be mitigated in design. The board moved and approved the DPW items by roll call.
