It has been eight years since a vehicle entered the Cassville City Park via 7th Street — and the countdown to a new crossing is underway.

At the Sept. 9 Cassville City Council meeting, leaders accepted a bid from Hartman and Company for $738,000 to build a new 15-foot triple-span reinforced concrete box bridge over Flat Creek, replacing the low-water crossing damaged beyond repair by flash flooding in 2017.

The city disbursed packets to five companies, with two offering sealed bids. Along with Hartman & Co., Branco bid $1,057,000 on the project.

Richard Asbill, Cassville city administrator, said timing of the construction is to be determined. The current construction window is January 2026 through the spring, with the goal of being fully operational by May 2026. However, Asbill hopes to work with Hartman to expedite construction if possible.

“We are meeting with Hartman [next week] and will ask for opportunities to start earlier, especially with the dry conditions,” Asbill said. “If we can get 60-80% of the work done [before winter], we can finish paving and curbing in the spring.”

That construction adjustment would allow the bridge to be open to traffic through the winter, but gravel instead of paved.

The cost for the bridge came in higher than engineering firm Allgeier, Martin and Associates estimated, inflated by the amount of large construction jobs available currently, and economic costs.

“Mobilization is a big factor,” Asbill said. “The scope of this project is not as large as others out there for counties, cities, schools or private, so it has to be the right timing for a company to move heavy equipment here.”

Mobilization costs proved to be a large chunk of the difference between the bids, with Hartman’s bid amount of $49,835 for that line item coming in $243,718.10 less than Branco’s.

Asbill said the city aims to secure a $1 million lease-purchase on a seven-year note, which will allow the city to fund the bridge, as well as the 5% matching portion, equating to $275,000, of a MoDOTfacilitated FAA grant for work at the Cassville Municipal Airport.

The payment schedule on the note will be funded entirely by the 1/2-cent capital improvement sales tax, which nets about $675,000 annually. The tax had been used to pay off a $2.9 million bond initiated in 2002 for the wastewater treatment plant, a bond paid in full in July 2023. The tax was renewed by Cassville voters in April 2024.

The 7th Street bridge was initially damaged by flooding in July 2015. Patchwork repairs were made in early 2017 while the city pursued FEMA funding for a full repair. During that process, the flooding of 2017 damaged the temporary repair and caused surface damage, turning the bridge into a loss.

After its removal, the city began pursuing a replacement, but that process was cumbersome and delayed by red tape in attempts to satisfy FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In February 2020, the city was awarded $32,000 for the bridge damages in its FEMA claim, as the organization deemed it would cost $52,000 to replace. However, because it fell short of requirements, the Corps would not approve the city to rebuild the bridge as it was.

A new plan was submitted at a cost of about $200,000. but that proposal was denied because it did not meet FEMA code, was not eligible for hazard mitigation and did not meet the required cost-benefit ratio factor.

The loss of opportunity to replace the 7th Street bridge at an economical cost led the city to begin pursuing a pedestrian bridge on 5th Street. That bridge remains a priority in Cassville’s capital projects list, and bids are set to be opened by the city on Sept. 25.

Talks of a new motorist bridge on 7th Street were gaining steam in March 2023 after city’s plan was green lit by the Department of Natural Resources, FEMA and the Corps.

Though the pedestrian bridge took center stage for a time, Asbill said ballooning costs due to ADA requirements, environmental impacts and other factors led to concerns about the feasibility of both bridge projects. Simultaneously, community feedback from a survey led the council to prioritize the 7th Street Bridge as its top project.

“This project for the city is like a multi-layer dessert,” Asbill said. “It solves access issues for the park, especially during youth ball, and it also addresses access for police and fire. Some neighbors we have over there also have difficulty coming and going when the park is busy because it’s essentially one lane.

“The Mineral Springs exit on Highway 248 is dangerous because vehicle traffic does not have the opportunity to slow down. So, 7th Street is a needed traffic path for the park.”

Asbill said the bridge will also bring back the Greenway Trail’s connection to downtown Cassville.

“The bridge has been a part of our lives for so long, and people have dealt with it being gone, but they’ve always missed it,” Asbill said.