MANSFIELD — New blacktop covers the important part of a $4.2 million public works project recently completed on East Third Street in downtown Mansfield.
The year-long effort replaced or rehabilitated about 1,700 feet of failing, century-old box culvert from just east of the city’s Central Fire Station at 140 E. Third St. and runs east to Ashland Road.
That’s the length of about five-and-a-half football fields. The new concrete box culvert is several feet deep in the ground and is 15 feet wide.
“The contractor (Shelly & Sands) has some minor work remaining involving some pavement markings and there will be some additional concrete work on the structure east of the railroad between the railroad and U.S. 42 (Ashland Road),” city engineer Bob Bianchi said Thursday morning.
“There is some secondary work that needs to be done on repairing the deck of the bridge at that location,” the engineer said.
“But the street (closed to through traffic in March 2023) was been fully opened (two weeks ago),” Bianchi said.
(Photos taken Thursday morning along East Third Street in Mansfield where a $4.2 million public works project to replace/repair 1,700 feet of storm sewer culvert was recently completed. The story continues below the photos.)
Shelly & Sands was awarded the construction project in November 2022 after submitting a low bid of $3,869,850.
K.E. McCartney & Associates got the contract to inspect and oversee the project at an amount not to exceed $385,000.
The city received a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission to help fund the project. The remainder of the work was paid for from the city’s sewer fund.
“Everything went really well with this project,” Bianchi said. “I’m excited about how well it went.”
Click here to see a multimedia explanation of the project approved by City Council in September 2022.
The underground system handles Ritter’s Run in the downtown through a series of sandstone tunnels and brick arches. Bianchi said inspections found that 900 feet of the culvert in question needed to be replaced. Another 800 feet was rehabilitated.
The work was not done to address any localized flooding in the area.
“This project was done to replace a deficient structure. There was really no issues of flooding in that area. But the box is larger than the original and will work just fine. The hydraulics will remain the same,” Bianchi said.
In 2022, Bianchi said it was time to replace the culvert, which was installed in 1905.
“It’s in disrepair,” the engineer said at the time. “It’s got steel that is exposed and rusting. It’s got through holes in the deck.
“You can actually stand on the surface of the pavement, look through the concrete and see the bottom of Ritter’s Run stream.
“The culvert was repaired intermittently over time, but it’s time for a full replacement,” Bianchi said then.
With several upcoming projects, including a tunnel beneath Trimble Road beginning in June as part of a connector project with the B&O Bike Trail, the engineer said he was happy the East Third Street project is complete.
a look back as the project began
“I am just happy to put this expensive project behind us,” he said, “so we can do some other project moving forward.”
He said the project didn’t meet criteria needed to qualify for federal funds.
“We got the $500,000 (state grant) and we did everything we could to bring in (some) outside dollars.
“But we had to fund most of it ourselves locally,” he said.
