Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM STANKARD
Bessemer — The Gogebic County Road Commission approved Monday evening a bridge design proposal and a bridge inspection proposal both from Brian Hintsala, of AECOM Technology.
Darren Pionk, road commission engineer-manager, said the bridge design proposal of $61,216 from AECOM is for bridges on Kimberly Road and East Shore Road in Marenisco Township.
Pionk said Hintsala has been the commission’s “bridge engineer” for the last 5 years and he designed “quite a few” bridges in Gogebic County.
Dan Sirrila, commissioner, asked if there were other companies that could do the job.
In response, Pionk said “yes,” but AECOM has done the county’s network of bridges “quite well,” and AECOM is used by a “majority of the western half” of the Upper Peninsula.
“Everyone’s been really happy with them, and it’s a good fit for us,” Pionk said.
With that, the board of commission approved AECOM’s proposal for $61,216.
Down the road, Pionk said construction of the bridges will cost about $400,000.
After much discussion, the road commission approved AECOM’s proposal of $17,952 for the 2016 bridge inspections of the 61 bridges in the road commission’s jurisdiction.
During public comment, Deke Routheaux, of Ironwood, said Langford Lake Road in Watersmeet continues to get “worse and worse.”
“We need gravel,” Routheaux said.
In response, Pionk said he drove over there and it’s going to cost a “ton of money to build it right.” Routheaux disagreed, saying the repairs should not have be expensive because the road simply “needs gravel.”