Plans for new
bridges in the Gateway Blvd. extension to the new Urschel Laboratories were
presented to the Porter County Drainage Board Monday morning.
The maps presented
by Project Manager Mike Bailey of Tonn and Blank, Donald Oliphant of
Christopher Burke Engineering, and Jeff Ban of Development Visions Group,
propose a 21’ wide by 10.5’ high ConTech steel multi-plate radius arch with
an open bottom culvert over Johnson Ditch as the road travels eastward onto
the Urschel development site.
Gateway Blvd.
northeast of the Toll Road Ind. 49 interchange is within Chesterton’s town
limits. Johnson Ditch is a regulated drain subject to the County Drainage
Board.
Johnson Ditch flows
into Coffee Creek not far from where the road extension will go through.
All five members of
the Drainage Board voted to grant the request.
The 1,200-foot
extension of Gateway Blvd. will have four lanes surfaced with asphalt
pavement, according to the plans. Bailey said Lake Erie Land Development
will extend the road from the existing pavement and Urschel will be
responsible as it crosses over Johnson Ditch and Coffee Creek.
Urschel has said it
will pay for the installation of the four lane bridge over Coffee Creek
which will be a 2’ to 3’ concrete box beam. From pier to pier, the bridge
will have two 45’ sections with a 55’ section in between for a total of 145
feet. Guardrails will be placed on each side.
Bailey and Ban said
the two crossings will be built together and construction will be completed
this year.
“It’s a pretty
straight forward road extension project,” said Olphant.
The three-sided
arch crossing over Johnson Ditch will be 95 ft. long parallel to the flow of
Johnson Ditch. The structure will have 45 to 90 degree wingwalls designed to
limit the impact of the ditch’s creekbed. Footings will be buried 2 ft. to
limit scour, Olphant said.
He said the
crossing will not adversely affect the floodplain of Johnson Ditch by
following the County’s stormwater design manual and the DNR’s regulations.
The Indiana DNR has
jurisdiction over Coffee Creek and an application for a Floodway
Construction Permit with the IDNR’s Division of Water has been submitted for
the improvements, the group said.
An existing
pedestrian walkway will be relocated to accommodate the new road, Ban said.
Drainage board
member Harvey Nix inquired where fill dirt will be placed during
construction. The group said fill be placed on the east side of Coffee
Creek.
Drainage board
member Ed Gutt complemented the men on the amount of detail they provided in
the proposal.
Bailey said Tonn
and Blank discussed the bridge plans with the Town of Chesterton’s Plan
Commission which signed off on the project.
Urschel broke
ground on its 157.41 acre site in Coffee Creek Center last July.
In November, the
County Drainage board voted unanimously in favor of permitting Lawson-Fisher
Associates P.C., an engineering/survey firm from South Bend which submitted
the plans on LEL’s behalf, to discharge an outlet into Johnson Ditch.