On Thursday, June 20, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the
opening of Porter County Bridge #23; County Road 500 East over the Kankakee
River. The project involved removal and replacement of the bridge
superstructure, removal and replacement of the bridge end bents, regrading
and adding riprap to the bridge spill slopes and modifying the pier caps.
New reinforced concrete bridge approach slabs were also constructed and 270
feet of storm sewer pipe at the southeast corner of the bridge in Jasper
County was replaced.
The shoulder was widened, new approach pavement was laid and new guardrails
meeting current standards were installed.
As part of the overall project, 110 trees of various species were planted.
The new bridge is a three span, composite pre-stressed concrete I-beam
structure and is approximately 203 feet in length. The longest span is 77
feet. With the original contract completion date of September 15, 2012, the
bridge was completed 86 days ahead of schedule.
The project was ordered by the Porter County Board of Commissioners. The
engineering design firm was DLZ. Beam, Longest and Neff was the construction
inspection engineering firm. The contractor was Tonn and Blank Construction
Company.
The total cost of the project was $2,013,800, with federal funds for the
project totaling $1,584,000.
The Jasper County contribution to the project was $67,510. The remainder of
the project was funded by Porter County.