During Monday’s Project Wide Advisory Committee meeting, District Manager Janet Tutt indicated that a request for proposals on the $1.47 million rock revetment project to shore up the Morse bridge embankment will go out for public bid in the next few months.
In October, PWAC approved $159,000 for Kimley-Horn to do the prep work for the project, as the embankment has experienced sloughing over the past few years.
During Monday’s public comments on the topic, Villager Phil Wenzel asked PWAC supervisors to look into obtaining a forensic investigation for the bridge and embankment. Wenzel suggested that some portion of the financial responsibility may lie with the contractor or the design engineer.
“I’d like the committee to consider doing a forensic investigation to see if there is further responsibility by the contractor or the design engineer,” said Wenzel. “If there is responsibility from previous people that built the bridge or designed the bridge…I’d encourage the committee to find out that information.”
The bridge and it’s structural integrity have never been in question. The area of concern, and the focus of Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. report, has been the embankment.
In their report, Kimley-Horn was not charged with conducting a forensic investigation. District manager Tutt explained why a forensic investigation wasn’t necessary.
“There is no failure,” commented Tutt. “The revetment is not required to move forward. We can put plantings, we can do a lot of things.”
“It is not failing. It is eroding. It isn’t going to erode in the next year or two, or three years. If in fact there was a total failure, that would initiate a forensic investigation” said Tutt. “There has no been no failure.”
“I totally agree with Mrs. Tutt,” added Wenzel.
“Kimley-Horn was not charged with the duty to investigate forensic information. I’m just encouraging the board to possibly look at that, and see if there was any information,” concluded Wenzel.