Alpharetta Will Repair McGinnis Ferry, Waters Road Bridges

If a contractor repairing a bridge on McGinnis Ferry Road was allowed to close the road on a single weekend, it could save the city some money and time in fixing the structure.

Alpharetta City Council approved the lone bid by the L.C. Whitford Co. for the repair and maintenance of the McGinnis Ferry Road Bridge over Big Creek and the Waters Road Bridge over Long Indian Creek in the amount of $498,877.

Pete Sewczwicz, director of Engineering/Public Works, told City Council on Monday night that if that section of McGinnis Ferry could be shut down for a weekend, the city would still have to coordinate it with Forsyth County.

"We own half the road, but 100 percent of the bridge," he said.

Getting a single bid was disappointing, but Sewczwicz said he was glad the repairs fell within the budgeted amount.

"What comfort level do we have that this is a fair price," Mayor David Belle Isle asked.

The city's engineering and public works chief said the bidder didn't realize they were the only one when the city asked for a new round of bids. So they tightened their bid a little more on the second round of bids, when again LC. Whitford was the sole bidder.

City Council member Chris Owens said the bid was only $1,124 off an estimate made by an engineer on city staff.

The bidder had to have a bridge engineer check out the structure because the most recent check of it by the Georgia Department of Transportation was from more than three years ago.

"It's safe to say that bridge didn't get any better over the three years," Owens said.

City resident Don Nahsur had another concern over the bridge conditions.

"Has it reached a point where concerns are about school buses that go across it," Nashur asked.

Sewcwicz said no.

Once the contractor gets the go ahead to proceed, it should take less than 60 days for both bridges to be repaired.

Scope of Work

McGinnis Ferry Road Bridge

• Construction of reinforced concrete encasements for unprotected piles;
• Extension of existing concrete encasements;
• Repair of spalling in caps and the precast superstructure units;
• Milling and resurfacing of the asphalt overlay;
• Repair of guardrail.

Waters Road Bridge

• Reconstruction of downstream wingwalls;
• Backfilling of eroded areas under the bridge with flowable fill and concrete;
• Installation of rip-rap;
• Extension of handrail on the existing pedestrian bridge.