TRUMBULL COUNTY Work to take nine months

The contractor said the county made changes to the bridge plans.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- A contractor says no matter how a dispute between his company and Trumbull County turns out, renovation of the historic covered bridge here is going to require about nine more months.
David DiRusso, owner of BECDIR Construction of Berlin Center, said the project was supposed to be complete by about now. But it got off track because of unexpected termite damage and changes to the project that the county made part way through.
DiRusso said after parts of the structure were removed during the summer, it became apparent that additional wooden parts would need to be ordered because of termite damage that was not shown on the county's plans.
He said county officials never decided what to do about the problem and did not authorize the ordering of additional parts. He said these materials have to be ordered from Washington state and can take a couple of months to arrive.
DiRusso said county officials also notified him that he should not order flooring materials because county officials were thinking about making changes in the flooring plans. The county then asked for changes to flooring, sidewalk and structure profile, he said.
DiRusso said the bridge has a cross-slope that needs to be removed, and the county wants an incline that was not in the original plans.
He added that the county engineer's staff also ordered BECDIR to stop its work in February at one point because of a disagreement over how the bridge was being jacked. Even without that issue, the company would have run out of work around that time for lack of materials, he said.
The county also has not paid the company properly, DiRusso said.
Legal action planned
On Wednesday, Trumbull County commissioners authorized county Engineer John Latell to hire Brickler and Eckler, a Columbus law firm, to represent him in legal action against BECDIR.
Randy Smith, Latell's deputy engineer, said legal help is needed to get the project moving again and that the bridge is only partly protected from the elements because the roof and siding have been removed.
"We wanted to do a nice job for the county, and we're real disappointed that it came to this," DiRusso said.
runyan@vindy.com