Eddy Street underpass project on the way

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - After the more-than-a-year long construction of the Sycamore Street underpass, City of Grand Island officials decided to avoid another extensive project with the Eddy Street underpass.

Eddy Street was last worked on in 2011 when they resurfaced the roads and reworked the drainage system, but this time, John Collins, engineer and public works director for the city, said they planned to do some construction to the retaining walls. He said, the issues to the structure were visible to the bare eye.

“If you were walking under there, you could look at the concrete on the retaining walls and you’d see cracks and you’d see chips off of it,” Collins noted. “And, some places, you might even see some pieces of metal, which is the rebar that gives it’s strength to the concrete and it would be rusty.”

He added, the project would only require one-lane of traffic to be closed at a time to allow them to fix the problems. They also planned to add deterrents for the birds that live underneath the bridge.

Collins said, although there may have been some wear-and-tear to the underpass, there were no safety concerns for the public driving on the road or underneath the bridge. He continued, the city wanted to stay ahead on the problems to avoid further issues down the road.

“Once it starts oxidizing, it tends to continue along the rebar and pop pavement off. If we remove the oxidation and we reseal it, we’ll stop the process,” he said.

Collins continued, they were able to start up the construction in fall 2021, but would likely begin the project in the next construction season. The timeline for fixing the underpass was planned to be discussed during their preconstruction meeting.

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