NOGALES, Ariz. – The foundations are in and the bridge is beginning to take shape across the Nogales Wash just outside the Chula Vista neighborhood June 18.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District is working on the bridge over the stream. The District removed the bridge in 2008 as part of authorized construction. Work on the current $4 million bridge project began March 30.
Kyle Sawyer, the District’s quality assurance representative for the project, and Alejandro Contreras, project manager for West Point Contractors – the District’s contractor on the project, said there were some delays in the initial phase of the project.
“We hit some harder-than-anticipated soils when drilling the drill shafts,” Contreras said. “That pushed us back about three weeks behind schedule. We are currently working on a remediation schedule to try and speed things up and still make our end date.”
Sawyer said the project is moving along well, even with the minor delays.
“We’re starting to do the abutments – one and two – on either side,” he said. “We’re digging down to bring the foundation up so we can put some grouted riprap on top to keep everything from washing away.”
Both Sawyer and Contreras said the members of the local community are excited. They said their “neighbors” come out to see the work being done on a daily basis and are usually out in the afternoons to view the project’s progress.
“They’re constantly looking for reports, for progress reports, on what’s going on, how long before we finish, where we’re at right now and just the basic design of it,” Contreras said. “They’re really excited.”
The project should be completed in November so residents and local businesses could be using it by Thanksgiving.