Sixty-five people heard three plans for replacing the Forestport “twin bridges,” which were presented by two engineering firms at an informational meeting held May 9 at the Forestport town hall.
Three plans were presented, the first plan by Spectra engineers was a two-lane bridge that meets federal and State requirements for grant money.
The cost proposed for that bridge is $1.3 million.
All of the cost would be grant funded.
Forestport has been applying for grants, but to date none have been received. The two-lane bridge plan is ready for bid pending funding.Spectra engineering has been paid $60,000 for the engineering plans used for the grant applications and a one-lane bridge proposal.
A second single-lane bridge was also presented by Spectra engineering at a cost of $581,000 and would be totally funded by taxpayers of the Town of Forestport.
The Spectra plan calls for precast concrete beams to be placed on newly poured abutments behind the existing abutments which the are in disrepair and would be used for erosion control.
A third plan was presented by the Forestport bridge committee who introduced Zingrilli engineering.
They presented a plan for a one-lane precast concrete bridge with a walkway at a price tag of $415,000.
This plan would also be 100 percent taxpayer funded.
The Zingrilli plan would use the existing abutments and wing walls if they are sound.
Single lane bridges do not meet mandated guidelines for grant money, however.
Zingrilli engineering would require an additional $42,000 to prepare bid documents.
Town of Forestport Supervisor William Hasenauer stated that the next step would be to advertise for bids to determine an actual cost, then draw an amortization plan that could form a referendum that can be placed before voters on the November ballot.
It is expected that the town board will decide their direction in the matter at the May 16 regular board meeting at the town hall in Forestport.
Both engineers indicated that the bid process would require about 30 to 40 days.
