HINCKLEY – Starting Monday, part of Somonauk Road near Little Rock Creek will be closed for more than three months so the bridge can be replaced, according to a news release from the DeKalb County Highway Department.
Somonauk Road, a quarter-mile south of U.S. Route 30, will be closed Monday and is expected to remain closed until Aug. 31. Civil Constructors of Freeport is doing the work for about $1 million.
The bridge work will cost about $700,000, according to DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz, who said the other $300,000 is the cost to redo about a quarter-mile of the road, both to the south through the curve and to the north toward the railroad tracks.
Schwartz said the bridge still is perfectly safe to drive on, but if concrete underneath were to break away, the weight limit would have to be reduced. He said the bridge is 55 years old.
“That’s about right,” he said. “We’ll typically see bridges last 50 to 60 years.”
For information, call 815-756-9513, email highway@dekalbcounty.org, or visit dekalbcounty.org/highway for updates on the project.