Cromwell Road near Fifth Street in Festus reopened at 8 a.m. Thursday (Sept. 17) after an approximately two-month-long closure for a culvert-replacement project, City Administrator Greg Camp said.
He said a guardrail will be installed along the road at the culvert at a later date.
On Monday (Sept. 14), the city of Festus fired a contractor, Chris Copeland of St. Louis, who had been hired to demolish the old culvert and put in the new one.
He did the culvert work, but left the road in disrepair that kept of portion of Cromwell closed since mid-July, Camp said.
Copeland could not be reached for comment.
Camp said the project, including repairing the road, should have been finished by the end of August or beginning of September, according to the contract.
The city purchased a box culvert for $9,584 from McCann Concrete Products in Dorsey, Ill., and hired Copeland – the low bidder at $32,000 – to remove the old culvert and install the new one.
Camp said Copeland will not be paid the full $32,000 since he did not complete the work.
However, the amount he will be paid and any potential monetary penalties for not completing the job on time will be determined later, Camp said.
The city hired Jokerst Paving and Contracting in the Festus area to complete the project.