Phase 1 of project to include drainage system, new steps
The weather on Monday morning was cooler and pleasant for mid-August, but that’s not why the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners decided to move part of its weekly meeting outdoors. The reason the board took an unscheduled field trip to the area near the back entrance to the county courthouse was so that board members could get a first hand look at the crumbling sandstone blocks at the base of the 130-year-old structure. The board also wanted to assess the drainage situation addressed in documents put together by preservation architect Jerry Berggren of Lincoln for the purpose of bidding out the first phase of the exterior renovation of the structure.
Berggren was accompanied on this trip to visit with the board by Chris Lane of Speece Lewis Engineering who is the civil engineer on the courthouse renovation and preservation project. The two presented to the board a set of documents that included plans and drawings for the first phase of the project which will include installing a drainage system around the building in order to get moisture away from the first course of sandstone and replacing the concrete front and back steps of the structure.
Assisted by Lane, Berggren held up the poster-sized book of drawings and specs to the show the board, paging through the documents one at a time. He said the drawings detailed the plans for constructing the drainage system to move runoff water to the north edge of the courthouse property so that it does not continue to wear away at the foundational stones of the building. He said all the concrete within 32 feet of the building will be replaced and the drainage system will include four inlets for runoff water from the sides of the building to enter the piping.
Berggren said the first phase the project will also include replacing most of the sandstone on the first course due to its deteriorated condition. He also said that in replacing the concrete steps with granite, an electric snow melt system will be installed to keep them free of snow and ice. He said the stoop just outside the courthouse doors is too narrow at this point so it will be extended by about 16 inches to make it easier for people using canes or walkers to open the door.
The current stoop has tile extending out several inches and Berggren said that will be replaced by new tiles that will match the existing ones. He said normally installing tile outdoors would not be practical because of the cold Nebraska winters, but he said because of the snow melt system the tiles will be protected from cracking in the cold. Berggren said the same heating system had been installed in Howard County more than 30 years ago and is still working fine.
“We are ready to advertise this for bids,” announced the architect, stating that, if approved by the board, the request for bids would be advertised this week and a bid opening would be set for Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. so that the bids could be reviewed by his firm and then presented to the board at its meeting the following Monday. When asked by board members if that was enough time to advertise the project, Berggren responded that he believed it would give adequate time for bidders to respond. He also said he doesn’t expect too much trouble with getting competitive bids.
“You’re on I-80 and that helps a lot,” Berggren told the commissioners, adding that the proximity to the Grand Island was also a bonus.
He said while the bid award could take place in a few weeks but the work probably wouldn’t begin until next spring due to the time needed to order and take delivery on the replacement stones.
As has come to be expected over the past year, push back to the proposal came from Commissioner Francis McDonald, who asked if any alternates had been provided in the bidding documents.
“In my personal opinion, the drainage system is kind of overdone,” McDonald said.
The commissioner said he didn’t believe such an elaborate a system needed to be installed, stating that using a moisture blocking membrane could achieve the same effect.
Outdoor excursion
After several minutes of back and forth between McDonald, Berggren and Lane regarding issues on the outside of the building, commission vice-president John Thomas, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Commissioner Rich Nelson, suggested the board take a field trip outside so everyone could see what the discussion was about. So the board members, accompanied by the architect and engineer, County Highway Supt. Jeremy Brandt, County Clerk Jill DeMers and County Attorney Douglas Dexter proceeded down the hall and out the back door.
During the approximately half hour outdoor portion of the meeting the board looked at the renovation plans and the exterior stone, measured the distance from the building to the walkway around the building and at times broke into smaller groups to discuss various matters with Berggren or Lane. At one point McDonald, in discussing the need to replace sandstone blocks near the rear entrance, rubbed his hand across the outside of a block causing pieces of it to slough off, illustrating just how fragile the stone actually is. After circling around the south side of the courthouse, the group re-entered the building on the east side and returned to the meeting room to resume the discussion.
Addressing the board once again, Berggren announced that because of what McDonald had shown him outside, he believed the first phase of the project should also include replacing the stones near the steps.
“He’s absolutely right,” Berggren said. “Those stones need to be replaced now. I don’t think you’d be able to do it later.”
Pressed by McDonald to include an alternate bid for changing the drainage system, Beggren said that would take more time, so it was decided that he would return in three weeks with updated bid documents to present to the board. He is expected to appear before the board again on Monday, Sept. 9.
Bader Bridge Update
While at the meeting, Lane took the opportunity to update the board on the Bader Bridge reconstruction project that was awarded several weeks ago to General Excavations LLC of Lincoln. Even though General Excavations was not the low bidder on the project, Lane had suggested awarding the project to the company because of the way it proposed to go about the rehabilitation project in terms of constructing a causeway for getting equipment under the bridge.
Lane reported on Monday that had been the right decision because it now appears the company will be able to construct the causeway for approximately half the expected “worst-case-scenario” cost. He said because they plan to use mini excavators rather than the full-sized versions, the causeway will only need to be half as wide. He also said if the water level of the river is low enough, the company may not have to use crane mats in the river bed to support the cranes.
“It appears we will have significant savings,” Lane announced.
The project to reinforce the pillars on the bridge which crosses the Platte River into Merrick County near Chapman is expected to begin as early as the first of September. Lane said the bridge will be kept open to traffic most of the time during the project but will have to be closed at times while concrete is being poured. Water levels in the river have been dropping in recent weeks, but came back up again after last week’s rain storms.