Looking north on Wilmot Road, from U.S. Route 12, the bridge over Nippersink Creek is being replaced due to age, with completion slated for a late August date.

The Wilmot Road bridge that traverses over Nippersink Creek, between Route 12 and Main Street in Spring Grove, is being rehabilitated and keeping with its timetable for a mid-August completion date. The work began last month, and the new decking for the superstructure is set for placement at the site, beginning July 6.

The bridge work is the third such effort over a north-south arterial roadway within the village, since 2011, when the bridge on Blivin Road was replaced. The following year, the span on Winn Road received the same treatment. The Mc Henry County Division of Transportation followed through as the lead agency in the projects.

All three structures had shown fatigue and stress, due to age, and were deemed unsafe. The program to identify potential hazard sites has adhered to a systematic inventory of county bridges by the state of Illinois Department of Transportation and MCHDOT. Some two-lane bridges were built during the 1930s, as part of Worker’s Progress Administration.

“The hardest thing about the Wilmot Road bridge was the removal of the old decking, railings, and clearing the banks in preparation for the new materials,” said Jim Werner, MCHDOT’s resident engineer.

“We kept the piers for supports and July 6, we’ll move the crane into position and situate the new bridge superstructure. It should take the week. Cause was age. The bridge was originally built in 1960, so there were concerns,” he said.

The project involves removing the roadway asphalt, concrete deck beams, and railings while leaving the substructure supports which remain solid. The project, termed as “rehabilitation,” will encompass the supports with new concrete decking and concrete road bedding. The railings, bridge approach pavement, guard rails, new railings, and landscaping will wind up the job order.

The project’s cost was slated for $581,300. Funding is supplied by Mc Henry County, with supplemental monies from IDOT. The concept of rehabilitating bridges using existing portions, as opposed to total replacement, has advantages in cost-effective measures and time considerations.

“This way, we can complete the project in less time, and the disruption to traffic patterns is also less,” said Werner.

The detour for reaching Route 173 and Main Street, west of Route 12 is lined out by using Blivin Street, or Winn Road. It was noted that recent traffic usage on Blivin Street has increased since the Wilmot Road closure in early June, although congestion has not been an issue.

“We’ve noticed more vehicles using Blivin Street, but not really heavy usage,” said Spring Grove’s deputy clerk Laura Frumet. “There were issues when the other two bridges were replaced, mainly for emergency crews like fire and ambulance calls because the roads were blocked, meaning they had to find alternatives.”

The Spring Grove Fire Protection District stationhouse is on Richardson Road, and response times are not severely impacted by the bridge closure. “We have a direct shot going to Route 12, so we can go east or west, so we can skirt around the closure,’ said Dan Illges, the district’s Battalion Chief.

“When Blivin Street was closed for the bridge work several years ago, that created a hardship because we had to go around to get to Route 12, if there was a service call, and it added to the response time,” he said. “So far, there have been no issues in that respect, and Wilmot Road will be open next month.”

— Wilmot Road Bridge Replacement Following Timetable —