CHESAPEAKE — Less than a month in, a culvert replacement project on State Route 243 is basically on schedule.

“The rain caused a little bit of a delay,” said Kathleen Fuller, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 9.

Construction started the first part of June to replace a culvert and add to the shoulder of a one-tenth of a mile on the roadway near Bradrick.

“On one side there is very little shoulder,” Fuller said. “That is where extra pavement will give it more space.”

Because of the narrowness of the road, it had to be shut down at that section during construction instead of keeping a single lane open, alternating traffic.

“We wanted to see if we could construct it and keep it open to traffic,” Fuller said.

However, that wasn’t feasible, Fuller said.

Along with the culvert replacement, guardrail will be added with improvement of the elevation.

Thus the section of the road will remain closed through Aug. 1. After that one lane will be opened with a flagger through September.

Detour routes are from State Route 378 to 217 to 775 to 7 or via Eaton Road.

BUDS of Nashport is the contractor for the project costing $742,185.