Brookfield Village Manager Timothy Wiberg told trustees at their meeting on July 26 that despite a pair of setbacks that have delayed construction of the Brookfield Avenue bridge over Salt Creek for about five weeks, he’s been told the project is still on pace to be completed in 2021.
The latest delay, which lasted two weeks before work crews returned to the site on July 26, involved a dispute between Lorig Construction, the contractor hired by the Illinois Department of Transportation for the largely grant-funded job, and ComEd.
Several weeks ago, the job site was shut down for three weeks as ComEd relocated a utility pole west of the bridge along the north parkway. After the pole was relocated Lorig said it was still too close to the job site and that the high-power lines would endanger workers who must demolish the concrete abutments of the old bridge to make way for the new structure.
At a meeting involving IDOT, Lorig and ComEd on July 23, said Wiberg, they agreed on a plan to de-energize the power lines to allow the demolition work on the west side of the creek to take place. It’ll take about two weeks for ComEd to accomplish that, during which time Lorig can complete demolition of the abutment on the east side of the creek.
“This bridge is still on track to be completed before winter,” Wiberg said. “We’ve made it very clear to the contractor and IDOT that we do not want that bridge closed for the duration of the winter.”
