Madison Township trustees award contract for culvert replacement on Emerson Road

Madison Township trustees have chosen a company to replace a faulty culvert on Emerson Road.

That project will be carried out by DRS Enterprises Inc. from Garfield Heights.

Trustees, during the Oct. 24 meeting, voted unanimously to enter into a contract with DRS. The company will be paid up to approximately $491,222 for its work.

Civil and environmental consultantswhich provides engineering services for the township on a contract basis, evaluated all seven bids received for the project and recommended awarding a contract to DRS.

Bids ranged from the low bid submitted by DRS to a high of $649,917 by SiteWORX of Lebanon, Ohio.

Of the seven companies that submitted proposals, DRS had the only bid under $500,000.

Township Administrator Tim Brown said DRS is best known for its work as a directional drilling company.

“But they’ve gotten into the world of excavation and channel replacement in the last couple of years, so they’re broadening their horizons,” he said.

Brown said DRS had never worked for the township before, but CEC did its due diligence in researching all seven companies and determined DRS was the lowest and best bidder.

CEC will also provide construction management services for the project.

DRS will install a new culvert on Emerson Road, about two-tenths of a mile south of Griswold Road.

Madison Township wants to replace the existing culvert due to its poor condition.

A culvert is a tunnel or pipe that allows water to flow under a road. The culvert installed under Emerson Road is an old sandstone structure that is shaped like a box, and water from a tributary of Mill Creek flows through the culvert.

In February, the Lake County Engineer’s Office was inspecting the canal while preparing plans to repair the structure, and during the inspection, the engineer’s crew found a large crack in the tile box ceiling that “was determined to be a significant hazard to the stability of channel”.

“If left as found, the entire road would sooner or later fail, endangering the traveling public,” Brown said in a Sept. 17 email exchange.

However, the township has often monitored the location to ensure public safety on Emerson Road, township Services Department Supervisor Paul Cook said in a Sept. 17 email exchange. So far, the municipality has not considered it necessary to restrict the movement of vehicles on that section.

In the spring, trustees declared the faulty culvert on Emerson Road to be in a state of emergency and in need of urgent repair or replacement. Trustees also authorized CEC to conduct a survey, hydraulic analyzes and replacement plans.

Those plans were finalized by the CEC and approved by the Lake County Bureau of Engineers.

The work to be carried out by DRS includes the removal of the existing box channel; and installing a new precast concrete culvert, catch basins and storm drains and related items, according to a bid notice for the project.

The estimated date of completion of the undertaking is July 1 next year, it is mentioned in the tender announcement.

Madison Township entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Lake County Stormwater Management Department to be reimbursed for the entire cost of the project.