Youngstown company wins stimulus contract for Route 11 bridge work

CANFIELD — A Youngstown company is bridging the gap between profitability and the economic funk thanks in part to the federal stimulus program.

Marruci and Gaffney Excavating Inc., of Hogue Street, was awarded a $1.7 million contract from the Ohio Department of Transportation for a federal stimulus project as part of the American Recovery and Reinevstment Act. The company will replace a bridge in Canfield Township.

The company will head up the project to replace the bridge deck on state Route 11 which runs between U.S. Route 224 and Western Reserve Road. The project will begin after the company and ODOT agree on the details following an Aug. 19 preconstruction meeting. Work is expected to last about a year.

The work was sorely needed, said Robert Sause, superintendent estimator for the company, and without getting this project some workers’ status would be “in jeopardy.”

“We were glad to get the job,” he said. “We’ve been scraping, trying to get our employees as busy as we could. Without it, we’d be laying people off so this work is welcome.”

Sause said he’ll employ a crew of 10 to 15 and may even hire some new labor. He said some work will be designated to subcontractors.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com