Stimulus bridge work gives city company boost

By Jon Moffett

The $1.7 million project is paving the way for a city company to 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, Youngstown, 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 Reinvestment 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 that runs between U.S. Route 224 and Western Reserve Road. The project will begin after the company and ODOT agree on the details after 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 the 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.

Paula Putnam, spokeswoman for ODOT, said the project was originally estimated at $2.4 million. But Marrucci and Gaffney’s bid of $1.7 million was the lowest, and the company received the award. She said bids oftentimes can be much more than original estimates, but it’s always a pleasant surprise to have a bid come in much lower than expected.

Sause said the company has faced layoffs before and would have been forced to split up crews if not for the project. He added that having a steady crew that is familiar with one another makes for better quality.

“We expect loyalty from our employees, so one way to get that is to be loyal to them and to give them work,” he said. “We’ve laid off some guys who were devastated, and we can get a much better work force by keeping the same gang working. You get much better work when you have the same guys working.”

Bill Reese, Canfield Township trustee chairman, said the project might be part of a cyclical plan to replace bridges statewide.

“I believe that the state has a system for replacing bridge decks, and it appears that this is that time,” he said. “It could be that they moved up the timetable for the bridge because of the federal stimulus money, and that’s certainly a good thing.”

He added, “Anything that creates jobs or puts people back to work is a good thing. I’m glad to see this money being used here and not in some other part of the world.”

jmoffett@vindy.com