Bridge rehab stalled due to environmental regulations
The results of environmental studies have resulted in more delays in the start of the Tuxedo Bridge rehabilitation project, with regulatory agencies discovering the possible presence of several species of bats and mussels in the area.
If detected at the time of construction, the species will need to be relocated — either with assistance or on their own — before construction on the project can start, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said this week.
“The results of recent environmental studies conducted by the City’s environmental consultant, Stantec, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC), have concluded that there are potentially two types of bats and three types of mussels that could be living either in the structure of the bridge or in the water under it at various times of the year,” Siemers said. “For us to be able to get a 404 permit through the USACE regulations, we will need to conduct a crevice study to determine if there are bats under the structure as well as ensure that these mussels are not present in the water under it prior to construction.
“Put simply, we will not be able to proceed with the rehabilitation project until we can ensure that these species are not present and will not be harmed or displaced by the project,” he said.
Siemers said the bats have an active season of April 1 to Nov. 15 every year.
“Because the bridges are located within the range of the Northern Long Eared Bat and Tri-Color Bat, construction has to take place outside of the active season,” he said. “Otherwise the study must be done first to make sure no bats are already inhabiting the structure.
“The tricky part with our project is that plans have been complete for some time, but we could not bid the project and start construction before we satisfied the environmental review regulations associated with a USACE 404 permit that is required on projects that could impact ‘waters of the United States,’ of which the USACE has jurisdiction. The process takes time and has been worked by the consultant in tandem with the design.”
However, in conjunction with this, the mussel issue has come to light, Siemers said.
“The other issue we are dealing with is the determination that there is a potential for multiple endangered/protected species of mussels in the river,” he said. “Because the project includes work to stabilize the river bank under the bridges, this will potentially affect the mussels that could be present.”
He said Stantec has to propose a mussel study and relocation plan and submit that to USFWS for review as well.
“Typically, they won’t permit a study during the time of year for potential high-water conditions for the protection of the scientists as well as to ensure conditions are more conducive to being able to locate the mussels, if present,” he said. “That means USFWS won’t typically approve a plan that schedules the study in the spring.”
He said the best times for the study would be in later summer or early fall.
“So, even if we could get started on construction to avoid the bat season, we are stuck with the mussel study time constraints,” Siemers said. “At this point, we are coordinating a plan to facilitate both windows of opportunity.
“It looks like, right now, we would most likely advertise bids this spring to award a contract in summer so we can get the study done right before start of summer or early fall construction, and then we’ll clear the bat active season in November.
“This might allow flexibility on starting on the work near the water when the study and potential mussel relocation is recently complete, and then they could start on the bridge deck after the bat season ends.
“There are just a lot of moving parts that we hoped to avoid, but unfortunately, we were not able to.”
The bridge has been limited to one lane for westbound traffic since January 2023, when a pothole in the inside lane required temporary repair. The bridge was already set to receive a $1.2 million rehabilitation, so repairs were postponed until the rehab project moved forward.