The Interstate 80 bridge will likely reopen to two-way traffic by the July 4 weekend or soon after, an Illinois Department of Transportation official said Friday.

Crews are still removing the subbase under the westbound lanes approaching the Illinois side of the bridge, said John Wegmeyer, a project implementation engineer. Once it is out and a new base is put down, the contractor can install the new surface and reopen access to the westbound side of the bridge.

“I think we’re still on schedule for the first weekend of July for having the bridge traffic open in both directions,” Wegmeyer said, but qualifying that it could be the week after.

The Illinois DOT originally said the work could be done by mid-June or early July.

The bridge has been restricted to one westbound lane on the eastbound side of the bridge since early May. Inspection crews found cracks in the beams supporting the outside lanes of the bridge and had to limit traffic to an inside lane.

The westbound side of the interstate was already torn up as part of a summer-long project to reconstruct I-80, which cut off access to the inside westbound lane. Once the cracks were found and access restricted, the contractor refocused efforts to get the westbound lanes finished.

The westbound entrance ramp has also been closed, restricting bridge access for local traffic.

While tearing out the subbase, crews found some unexpected things in the ground, such as a rotting tree stump, that have taken time to remove, Wegmeyer said. Such discoveries are not unusual when tearing out the subbase, which consists of packed dirt and a layer of rock, he added.

If the new subbase is not done right, it can get spongy and result in cracks in the new surface, Wegmeyer explained. Rain could further delay the project once workers start applying the subbase because it needs to stay dry, he added.

Work on the bridge itself is expected to start in coming weeks. Illinois DOT will first do stress tests by running vehicles across the outside lanes to see how the weight affects the cracked beams, Wegmeyer said. Final plans will then be made on sealing the cracks.

Workers have placed support beams on the outside eastbound lane and drilled connections to the cracked beams below to give the bridge added strength until it is repaired, Wegmeyer said.

“The bridge is stabilized,” he said. “There is no problem there. The two cracked (beams) aren’t going to get worse. The bridge is safe and stable.”

Illinois DOT will seal the cracks and won’t actually replace the deck or damaged beams. Wegmeyer said there is a 50-50 chance the work can be finished this fall. If not, it won’t be done until spring 2010.

Eventually, the bridge deck will need to be replaced, but Wegmeyer said that work could be at least a decade away. The deck was last replaced in the mid-1990s.

Rick Kessler, Port Byron’s public works director, said this week he’s noticed construction crews working on the ramps coming off westbound I-80 onto Illinois 84.

“From appearances, it looks like they’re gaining ground,” he said.

Kessler said he was told by someone he knows on the project this week that construction crews are running two weeks behind because of recent storms. He was unsure if that included the ramps.

Since the bridge went down to one lane, Illinois 84 through Port Byron has gotten a lot busier, Kessler said.

“I think we’ve got a lot more people who are going up through Clinton and looping around,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot more traffic with trucks.”