The Katy City Council Monday authorized the reconstruction of the First Street bridge from Bartlett Drive to Avenue D, voting to approve a $2.6 million bid from Aranda Brothers Construction Company.

The Aranda Brothers bid was one of 10 bids submitted, although ARKK Engineers, which reviewed the bids and recommended that bid to the city, said one bid did not meet the minimum qualifications for bridge construction experience.

In a letter to the council recommending the bid, David Kasper, ARKK Engineers senior project manager and principal, said the distance of the First Street reconstruction is about 2,300 linear feet. The reconstruction includes the bridge that crosses Cane Island Creek.

Kasper said the anticipated cost for the project included the construction contract bid ($2.1 million), a 5% contingency amount ($105,168), design and construction phase professional services ($390,000) and construction materials testing budget ($29,360).

“I’m glad we’re moving forward with this project,” Council Member-at-Large and Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said. “It’s exciting for all of Katy. We’re going to be able to move a lot of water to the south of town through Cane Island Branch.”

The bridge is expected to be four feet higher than the current bridge. In response to a question from Ward A Council Member Janet Corte, Kasper said there would be a slope leading up to the bridge and coming back down from the bridge, but the bridge itself would not stand higher than U.S. 90.

“The bridge is going to be higher, but it’s not going to be a rainbow or anything like that,” Kasper said.

Kasper said the final contracts are expected to be ready for Mayor Dusty Thiele’s signature within the next seven days. He said work on the project is expected to begin in January.

METRO funds will be used to pay for the project.

Council authorizes Danover Road water and sanitary sewer project

In other action Monday, the council approved another proposal from ARKK Engineers for engineering and construction phase services for the city’s Danover Road water and sanitary sewer project.

In his proposal to the council, Kasper said ARKK Engineers would provide engineering design and construction phase services for rehabilitating existing sanitary sewer mains and replacing existing water mains along Danover Road a between U.S. Highway 90A and Stockdick Road.

Kasper said the sanitary sewer and water mains along the side streets on Danover Road (meaning North Street, South Street, Roberts Road and Barley Street) will also be considered for rehabilitation and replacement.

Kasper said $1.1 million in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds will be used to pay for the project, and ARKK Engineers would help city staff prepare the grant paperwork.

Kasper said under ARKK’s preliminary cost estimate, approximately 4,510 L.F. of water mains and 3,780 L.F. of sanitary sewer mains, can be replaced and rehabilitated with the available construction budget.