Fortna bridge project on the docket

The Sutter County Board of Supervisors will consider an environmental study for a bridge replacement project and vote to authorize sending it out to bid at a public hearing today.

The Fortna Road Bridge – about a half-mile west of Township Road and a mile north of Highway 20 – was noted to have structural deterioration and deformation, resulting in the establishment of load limits over the canal crossing. The Appeal-democrat reported in 2015 that bridges are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete if Caltrans inspectors determine their sufficiency score is less than 50; the Fortna Road bridge scored 17.9.

In March 2017, the board approved a $226,148 contract to Northstar Engineering Chico for design and environmental permitting of the replacement, according to the staff report. The process has included coordination with AT&T for utilities and with the Sutter Extension Water District for water levels in the canal. The design is complete and ready for the solicitation of bids.

The consultant prepared an initial study with mitigation measures to reduce the project's impact on the environment – it considered the impacts to things like aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, hazards and hazardous materials, and hydrology and water quality.

The project will replace the existing 20-foot diameter semicircular steel pipe with a precast concrete arch bridge system that will increase the volume of irrigation water that can flow under the roadway. The road crossing will be widened from its current width of 20 feet to 22 feet and the road approaches will be widened as well, according to the staff report.

The initial study has been reviewed by the environmental control officer of Sutter County, who found the project will not have a significant effect on the environment, according to the report.

If the initial study is approved, the project will go out to bid for 28 days. The Development Services Department would return to the board in June to recommend a construction contract, according to the report.

Construction is expected to begin in July 2018. The estimated project costs were included in the 2017-18 adopted budget as $549,658, according to an August 2017 staff report.