Two years after the sudden closure of the North Mineral Springs Road bridge in Porter, work will finally start on its replacement.
Dunnet Bay Construction of Glendale, Illinois, was awarded the contract for $2,440,121.86 by the Porter County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 28, said Mike Jabo, executive director of the Porter County Department of Development and Stormwater Management.
A pre-construction conference will be held by Porter County with the contractor in early December. The contractor will provide a schedule at that time, which will include the date of when the work will begin, Jabo said.
“There’s a lot of prep work that has to go on before construction can start,” Jabo said.
It is hoped that construction could be substantially completed by Aug. 1, 2026.
The North Mineral Springs Road bridge was closed on Dec. 1, 2023, when an inspection revealed its unsafe condition due to dangerously rusted beams over the East Branch of the Little Calumet River. There was a real possibility that a vehicle could have caused the bridge to collapse into the river, officials said then.
The Spring House Inn complex, which includes an Uno’s Pizzeria, a bar and banquet facilities, has suffered financially as a result, because easy access from U.S. 20 was shut down with the bridge’s closure.
Vishal Patel, who owns the complex, has said the bridge closing cost him up to 50% of his hotel business, and receipts are down 40% with his restaurant business.
Patel depends on visitors to the Indiana Dunes National and State parks during the summer high season. The majority of the losses came in the 2024 and 2025 summer season. Most of the 2026 season will also be lost because of construction.
The town of Porter has tried to help by posting detour signs on U.S. 20, but it hasn’t been enough.
It also took time for Porter County officials to determine how it would pay for the bridge replacement.
The North Mineral Springs Road bridge was originally on the schedule to be replaced either in 2026 or 2027.
To speed the process, the county government decided to forego federal funding and finance the project itself.
There were additional issues, such as obtaining right-of-way and an architectural design that will raise the new bridge to a higher elevation above the water.
Another issue that the contractor will have to work around is the migration of Coho and Chinook salmon in the river between July and November.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
