Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Side walk repaving

I have questions in light of the fact that it is looking like my city is going to be forcing a new sidewalk on most of my street but hasn't bothered to tell anyone about it yet. I saw someone putting paint marks on the sidewalk recently and inquired with the city, having been sensitized to the issue since the city already replaced a section of my sidewalk and billed me without ever asking or giving advance notice once before.

I want to know what options I have. Assuming that this has to be done next year, I am guessing there are a few ways this could happen, and I assume that since I will have to pay for it I have the right to choose how the sidewalk is brought up to code.

Of these options, which would be least expensive or are there options I haven't considered:
1) Let the city contractor do the work, will this be economical due to the scale of him having most of the street to do?
2) Do it myself
3) Have the sidewalk sections relevelled without replacement

Cities normally inspect and mark sections for replacement on a street-by-street basis to get all the work in an area done as fast as possible and take advantage of getting a lower price based on the volume. Usually this is done every 5 or 10 years. There usually a notification in the newspaper, but who reads the legal notices?

You may have no options. This especially true if it is not on your property. The city establishes the code and the standards and work must be done to city standards. Frequently, sidewalks are public property and the city obviously would not allow a DIY to do it. If they did, you would probably have to be licensed, bonded and have to pay to have it inspected to insure it has the right concrete, steel placement and thickness.

As an example, the use of reinforcement can vary depending on whether the city considers it possible that the concrete may have to be removed for utility construction.

Releveling is rarely an option since it is just a temporary measure unless the reason for the settlement is corrected.

The city takes the lowest bidder based on a large volume in one genral area. It is difficult to get a price as low as what the city sidewalk contracts go for.

Dick

Okay, one other question too... If I was doing this my way, my choice would most likely to replace my sidewalks at the same time as having a new driveway paved. In terms of cost to me, would it be more economical to have one contractor do the driveway and the sidewalk, or to have the driveway done by my contractor and have the sidewalk done by the city's contractor?

The only way your question can be answered would be to ask the city what the options are and what is the cost of replacing the portion of your sidewalk they plan on replacing. Then compare that to what your contractor wants for the sidewalk portion.

It is very difficult to do sidewalks as cheap as a contractor that specializes in them and is set up for an area all at once.

I had a driveway put in when I lived in Michigan, but sidewalks were not scheduled until the next year, so I had the contractor only do the driveway, the driveway section of sidewalk and the apron between the sidewalk and street.

He was licensed by the city, so he could do the work. He could not use the same concrete and reinforcement for the sidewalk and apron as he did for the driveway. Because of this, I had a extra charge for a short load of concrete for the city portion. The city did not want the high strength reinforced concrete that I used for the driveway in case of utility construction and the cost of removal.

Dick