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Sedalia council approves $68,060 change order to finish Washington Avenue Bridge repairs
Summary
After an HDR Engineering presentation that revealed extensive unexpected steel corrosion, the Sedalia City Council approved change order No. 7 for $68,060 and a 23-day extension to complete final repairs and reopen the Washington Avenue Bridge.
HDR Engineering told the Sedalia City Council that the Washington Avenue Bridge required additional repairs after contractors uncovered more severe steel corrosion than initial inspections showed.
"As they were peeling away layers of this, they were finding that the existing old steel underneath this was more corroded than what we could see in the initial inspection," HDR project manager John Carst said, describing a string of requests for information (RFIs) that revealed extra section loss and led engineers to recommend column replacements and concrete encasements.
Carst walked the council through the bridge's inspection history and recent work. He said Modot's 2024 inspection identified critical section loss that led to the bridge closure, HDR performed a condition assessment and rehabilitation design beginning in December 2024, and the project went to bid after final plans were completed in September 2025. During construction, several RFIs (numbered in the presentation as RFI 7, 9, 10, 12 and 13) documented previously unseen corrosion that required cut-and-plate repairs, welded reinforcements, and the replacement of some columns.
Council members pressed HDR on schedule impacts and safety. One council member said seeing the photos of corroded columns made them worry about emergency vehicles. "It's 116 years old," the council member said, asking that the work be done correctly rather than hurriedly.
City staff requested approval of change order number 7 to complete repairs identified during the final inspection, bring the work to final acceptance and allow the bridge to reopen to traffic. The proposed change order extends the contract by 23 calendar days to a new completion date of Aug. 3, 2026, and is for $68,060.
The council approved the change order on roll call: Franklin, Robinson, Ames, Scribner, Boggess, Covington and Cross voted yes; Redford was absent. The change order passed 7–0 with one absence.
Staff and the engineering firm said contractors will need to remobilize to finish the remaining punch-list items and that some specialized steel pieces required longer lead times, which contributed to delays. HDR recommended concrete encasement and targeted column replacements where sandblasting and preparation uncovered severe section loss.
The council's action authorizes the work needed to address the newly documented corrosion and move toward final acceptance and reopening of the bridge.
