Trumbull County awards contract to repair covered bridge

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners have authorized a familiar name to complete repairs to the historic covered bridge in Newton Falls: the company involved in a lengthy court battle with the county over a $1 million rehabilitation project it started in 2005.

On Wednesday, commissioners authorized BECDIR Construction of Berlin Center to make repairs to the bridge at a cost of $21,070. The work will fix the damage a Canton doughnut-shop deliveryman did to the bridge in July when he drove the truck through the bridge without sufficient clearance, damaging trusses and beams all through the structure.

BECDIR offered the lowest bid of five companies. Work is expected to be finished by the end of March.

John Picuri, deputy engineer for county Engineer David DeChristofaro, said he has confidence that BECDIR will complete the project without any complications.

“I think this is an opportunity for BECDIR to show that what happened before shouldn’t have happened, and if the right people would have been in place, it wouldn’t have happened,” Picuri said.

At the time of the lawsuit, John Latell was the county engineer.

As a result of problems between the Latell administration and BECDIR, the county terminated the contract. The lawsuit was settled in April, after DeChristofaro took office, for $300,000 — the same amount BECDIR sought from the county when the lawsuit was first filed, DeChristofaro said.

Picuri noted that the terms of the settlement were amicable.

BECDIR started the rehab in the summer of 2005, but legal action shut down the project on several occasions, resulting in a delay of about 18 months in completing the work. A Columbus company completed the work, and the bridge was reopened in December 2007.

The bridge, on Arlington Street, was built in 1831. It is the second- oldest covered bridge in Ohio and the last covered bridge in the state still being used in its original location.