Progress on Randolph Street Bridge continues, anticipate open before Blueberry Festival

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 1:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

Progress on the Randolph Street bridge going into Centennial Park continues to progress.

During the commissioner’s meeting, Highway Superintendent Jason Peters said LaPorte Construction was able to start driving sheeting for the cofferdam for pier number two. He said that due to the fluctuating height of the water due to the weather, the sheeting was installed high and will be driven down to the correct elevation when needed. Last week, the existing end bent for pier number one was removed, and the poor soil was excavated from both sides of the river. The clean sand found has been stockpiled for use as an embankment when the new bridge is constructed.

This week, LaPorte Construction will drive the sheeting for the cofferdam for pier number two to the appropriate grand so they can excavate the inside of the cofferdam in preparation for the shell piling. If all goes as planned, delivery of the shell piling is scheduled for next week.

Superintendent Peters said that the milestones and completion dates need to be adjusted because the project began about 10 months earlier than initially planned. A preliminary completion date has been established, indicating that the bridge will be open to pedestrian and trolly traffic for the Blueberry Festival.

The bridge should be completed in time for the Labor Day festivities, but the approaches and various items will probably be stoned, barreled, or fenced off for the festival. After the Blueberry Festival, the bridge will be closed again to finish the remaining work.

LaPorte Construction said the goal is to have the whole project done and open to traffic by the festival, but this gives them some flexibility in case of weather or flooding.

The preliminary intermediate completion date is set for August 22^nd, which would be about five days before the festival. The intermediate completion day was moved back 242 days to October 31^st, and the contract completion date is May 31, 2026.