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West Coast Contractors Inc., along with the Lane County Public Works Department and Eugene-based OBEC Consulting Engineers, drew recognition recently for construction to improve a bridge on a critical stretch of road connecting Oregon Route 126 with timberland and private residential lands.

The Coos Bay-based construction firm, which has done heavy construction projects around Oregon, Washington and California for large clients including the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, received the “Small Cities/Rural Communities Project of the Year” from the Oregon chapter of the American Public Works Association.

The project took place on a quarter-mile portion of Sweet Creek Road, about 15 miles east of Florence; the bridge, built in 1896, was suffering from erosion and rainfall damage.

West Coast Contractors had originally planned to build a retaining wall and a couple of small bridge sections, said Ron Kutch, a company spokesman. But the rock was extremely hard, he said.

“As we got into it, we found out that the structure underneath was different from what we anticipated,” he said. “Rather than drill into it, we built a bridge over the rock.”

Timing was critical during the project because traffic lane closures were frequent, Kutch said.

Despite the challenges, the firm maintained its $5 million budget and completed the work during an eight-month time frame even though the scope of work changed considerably, he said.

“It was substantially sooner than they had anticipated us completing,” he said.

The road is now open for two-lane traffic for the first time in three years, Kutch said.