Wallace City Council approves bid for 6th Street Bridge

WALLACE –– During a special session earlier this month, the Wallace City Council approved a bid that will finally see the replacement of the Sixth Street Bridge. 

The bridge, which crosses the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and provides access from Wallace to the communities of Prichard and Murray, was put under severe weight restrictions six years ago. Roughly one year later, a temporary bridge was placed across the structure to allow heavier vehicles to pass over it – and has remained in place ever since. 

Apollo Construction, a Washington-based, Native American-owned construction outfit was the lowest of the five bidding groups, at $3,788,755. 

That bid is nearly $2 million higher than what had been projected for its completion in 2022 – but due to numerous roadblocks and other issues, the project never got out for bidding and it was pushed back. 

Initially, the city was told that they would only need roughly $12,000 in match monies to get the project started, but that number ballooned to $54,000 in 2022 – that number has exponentially increased since that time. 

According to Wallace City Clerk Kristina Larson, the city had already put $119,000 into the project, but due to the significant difference between the engineer’s previous estimate and what the bid came in at, they will need to pay an additional $96,000 to get the project going. 

The city has applied for emergency funds through the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council to help offset these costs, but they have not received any word back from them as of February 22. 

Any project will require the continued use of the temporary bridge until the project is completed, but the city might be able to recoup some money if they can successfully sell the temporary structure. Shoshone County had previously expressed an interest in purchasing the bridge to use during some of their upcoming projects, but with ongoing financial restrictions at the county, it’s unknown if they are still interested.  

Larson told the News-Press that, due to the warmer weather, Apollo Construction would like to get started on the project next month.