3rd Street SE Bridge

Timeline of Events Concerning the 3rd Street SE Bridge.

•  February 18, 2015, WHKS bridge inspectors and engineers, acting on behalf of the City of Waverly as the City-designated Bridge Program Manager as required by the Iowa Department of Transportation, informed the City that the 3rd Street SE Bridge was in unsafe condition and needed to be closed immediately for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
•  March 16, 2015, VJ Engineering of Coralville, Iowa was retained by City Council for a not-to-exceed amount of $30,000 to gain a better understanding of the extent of the issues, verify the report with an independent third party, and understand the scope necessary for rehabilitation or replacement.  The project was given 120 days for both phases and the report.
•  July 22, 2015, VJ Engineering's report was delivered to Council.
•  July 27, 2015, Tim McDermott of VJ Engineering gave a presentation to Council during a Study Session going over the phases and the report's findings.
• July 27, 2015, Butch Kehe, professional engineer and principle of Cedar Valley Engineering, responded to the presentation having inspected the bridge in the past before the Iowa DOT had instituted new requirements for program managers of bridges.
• July 28, 2015, Butch Kehe submitted a letter that was shared with the City Council including his recommendations for repair of the bridge.
• August 17, 2015, Butch Kehe shared his ideas from the letter at the Council meeting.
• August 24, 2015, Butch Kehe presented his ideas for repair and improvements during the Study Session.  The Council at that time wanted to review Mr. Kehe's report before making any decisions on moving forward. 
• September 14, 2015, Phil Jones gave an update that Mr. Kehe would present his findings from as assessment of the bridge in October.  
• September 21, 2015, an agreement from Butch Kehe for professional services was received.
• September 28, 2015 Council approved Mr. Kehe's agreement for engineering inspections and a repair assessment for $10,050 during a Council meeting.
• October 5, 2015, Mr. Kehe presented his findings and informed that the bridge could be opened up immediately to vehicle and pedestrian traffic and that minor repairs could be made to the bridge in the future to extend the life of the bridge up to 5 years.
• October 6, 2015, Phil Jones reached out to Tim McDermott of VJ Engineering, sharing the information and calculations from Mr. Kehe so he could review and compare with his calculations and asking him to provide information back to the Council.
• Week of October 12, 2015, Bill Werger, City Attorney, researched the Iowa DOT procedures for bridge management, inspections, bridge closing, and bridge opening including who had the authority to open and close bridges and the requirements for doing so.  
• October 19, 2015, Bill Werger's findings were shared with Council.
• November 2, 2015, Mr. Faber of WHKS and Mr. McDermott of VJ Engineering will provide  Council with a field demonstration of the bridge and a presentation at the Council meeting.
•  January 18, 2016, public open house for the 3rd Street SE (Green) Bridge.
• January 18, 2016, WHKS will give a formal presentation to Council reviewing their 2015 Bridge Study. WHKS 2015 Bridge Study
• February 22, 2016, City Council approved the option of repairing the existing bridge for vehicles and pedestrians for an approximate 20 year lifespan for an estimated cost of $2,395,000.
• April 4, 2016, a professional services agreement with WHKS & Co. was approved for design and specified construction services.
• May 23, 2016, Council received an update on the bridge from WHKS &Co.
• June 6, 2016, Council approved Professional Services Agreement - Sup. #1 with WHKS.
• August 15, 2016, Council reviewed preliminary plans and project update.
• November 21, 2016, Council reviewed preliminary plans and project update.
• January 9, 2017, Set public hearing date of February 20, 2017.
• February 7, 2017, Bids were opened for the 3rd Street SE Bridge Repair project.  Minnowa Construction of Harmony, MN, was low bidder.
• February 20, 2017, Council held public hearing on the bridge repair project.
• February 20, 2017, Council rejected the low bid from Minnowa Construction.  (3 Yes - Lampe, Reznicek & Gade;  4 No - Waldstein, McKenzie, Kangas & Sherer)
• July 10, 2017, Council approves engineering agreement from WHKS for a feasibility study for a pedestrian bridge.
• August 21, 2017, WHKS presented pedestian bridge options.
• September 11, 2017, Council approves proceeding with design and bidding of a pedestrian bridge.
• October 2, 2017, Council approves WHKS's agreement to design a pedestrian bridge.
• October 11, 2017, Mayor Infelt vetoed Council's decision to approve WHKS's engineering agreement for a pedestrian bridge.
• March 16, 2020, Council approves IDOT bridge funding offer of $1million for a 2 lane vehicle bridge.
• May 18, 2020, Council rejects IDOT bridge funding agreement.
• July 6, 2020, Council approves to have the bridge removed and then approves engineering agreement from WHKS to draw up plans and specs for removal of bridge.

A more detailed version of this timeline may be viewed by selecting the following:
3rd Street SE Bridge Status and Timeline

The engineering reports and proposals from WHKS & Co., VJ Engineering, and Butch Kehe's Cedar Valley Engineering are listed below:
WHKS & Co.
VJ Engineering
Cedar Valley Engineering

Additional background information on bridges was also obtained on MN DOT presentation.