The engineering firm hired to design a new bridge on Deep Cut Road in rural Hartland Township would get $139,000 for the work, up from the original $67,000, under a revised contract recommended this week by the county Transportation Committee.
The original contract was awarded four years ago, nearly two years after a steel truss bridge built in the early 1900s collapsed onto a double set of railroad tracks.
The gap in the road has remained unbridged ever since.
The Illinois Department of Transportation approved preliminary designs for a new bridge last month.
Once final approval is received, detailed engineering work to build the replacement bridge can begin.
County Highway Supt. James Stahlecker said this week the engineering firm Edwards and Kelcey of Chicago should receive the extra money because the scope of the project has changed significantly.
“We originally thought we could put up the new bridge where the old one was, but it didn’t work out that way,” Stahlecker said.
State highway officials would have required a steeply banked and curved bridge to follow curves in the road at the original bridge, Stahlecker said.
The cost of designing and building such a bridge would have been prohibitive.
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Instead, the road near the bridge will be straightened, necessitating some right-of-way acquisition and relocation of the bridge.