Construction on the Deerfield Road bridge over the Des Plaines River is running about two months behind schedule and may not be finished this season.
The troubles began when the river flooded. Work was suspended temporarily because new pilings couldn’t be driven into the ground until the water receded.
Subsequent construction problems have added to the delays on the $1.1 million project, Mark Shillington, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Monday.
The bridge is being rebuilt one side at a time. Traffic has been reduced to one lane, shared by eastbound and westbound vehicles and regulated by temporary traffic signals. Contractors had hoped to finish the first half of the bridge by now and switch traffic over to the new section, but they are still a long way from reaching the midway point of the project.
Contractors hope to make up at least some of the lost time, but “it’s about 50-50 whether they’ll be able to get it finished this year,” Shillington said. The project’s scheduled completion date is Oct. 31.