LOWER MERION – Lower Merion officials have approved a contract to repair a culvert on River Road that has long caused problems in the area.

During a finance committee meeting, the commissioners recommended awarding a contract for culvert repair to Jurich, Inc. for just over $320,000.

Adam Szkumski, chief financial officer for Lower Merion, outlined some of the details of the contract.

“The River Road culvert repair project addresses the existing corrugated metal pipe culvert beneath River Road, which has a history of capacity issues and clogging from rocks,” Szkumski said. “It’s at the foot of a rocky valley, and ultimately, some of those rocks are washed away during significant weather events.”

The improvements include installing a box culvert, which will increase pipe capacity, improve access, and also reinforce the downstream piping to extend its useful life.

“The project is 100% grant-funded through FEMA’s hazard mitigation grant program,” Szkumski said. “This contractor has performed well for the township in the past. They’ve actually won some recent awards from the township. So staff did reach out to confirm that they’d be able to satisfy all contracts timely.”

Ernie McNeely, township manager, provided additional details for the project.

“This particular spot has been a problem for many, many years now. Water comes down off of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and off of the Schuylkill Expressway. Comes down to this site, and of course, it’s bringing rocks and debris along with it,” McNeely said.

The pipe is continuously getting clogged, so the township is going to take that pipe out and install a culvert with a metal grate on top that will allow access, so crews can get the debris out without the difficulty they’ve had in the past. The township has brought in personnel to try and clean that out, but when that pipe gets really packed with debris, it’s impossible.

According to township officials, the $320,217 cost for the project is $108,583, or 25%, less than an estimate of $428,800.

Szkumski said the project was originally bid several years ago with a slightly different design and came back at a very high price. The project was reworked, and now the bids have come back at a lower cost.