Near the town of Sterling, in northwest Illinois, two aging bridges spanning Jordan Creek were no longer sufficiently controlling the water flow — causing concerns for both roadway safety and local flood prevention efforts.
“The bridges were beyond their lifespan,” said Kevin Kerchner, project superintendent for Oregon, Ill.-based Martin & Company.
The general contractor was awarded the dual box culvert job by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).
Although the bridges were less than three miles apart, the project spanned two counties. One bridge was in Whiteside County, while the other one was in Ogle County.
The scope of the project was to remove the failing concrete bridges and replace them with precast box culverts to control the water flow and allow vehicles to safely cross the creek.
Precast was IDOT’s material of choice. It was written into their specifications with good reason.
“It was a pretty good-sized waterway, so they would want to use precast to get in and out of there quickly,” said Mark Wieser, P.E., president of Wieser Concrete, headquartered in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin.
Wieser Concrete was selected to be the precast supplier to Martin & Company. Wieser, who had worked with Martin & Company before, bid on the 2024 spring project in June 2023.
“Having a former relationship with Martin & Company helped a lot,” Wieser said.