Ohio Department of Transportation launches partnership with counties, cities on bridge repair projects
The Highland County Press
This year, the Ohio Department of Transportation launched a partnership with counties and cities to fully fund the replacement or repair of locally-owned bridges.
Under the leadership of Gov. John R. Kasich, ODOT developed the Local Bridge Partnership Program to provide resources to assist local governments with the maintenance of bridges including bridge embankments, drainage repairs and other related issues.
“Earlier this year, ODOT began working with the County Engineers Association of Ohio on a plan to help counties improve the condition of their bridges and make Ohio’s bridges safer,” said ODOT District 9 Deputy Director Vaughn Wilson.
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“Although these bridges are not on ODOT’s state highway system, they are still part of Ohio’s transportation network and fixing them is key to maintaining a safe and efficient highway system.”
The first of its kind, the Local Bridge Partnership will invest approximately $120 million in local bridges over three years, and statewide approximately 200 county bridges and 20 city bridges are expected to be repaired or replaced.
As part of the program, 12 bridges in ODOT District 9’s eight-county region are slated for replacement, and the first such bridge is located over Plum Run on Township Road 144 (Fenwick Road) in Highland County.
“While Ohio’s bridges on the state system are better than national averages in most bridge condition reports, we have many on the local system that are in need of costly repairs,” said Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth.
“With the Bridge Partnership Program, we are able to replace the Fenwick Road bridge using 100 percent federal funds, and given that our demand for funds at the local far exceeds the available resources, we appreciate the assistance of this program.”
According to Otworth, a design-build contract was awarded to J&J Schlaegel, Inc. in September for approximately $409,694 to replace the bridge. Leading up to construction, which is anticipated to start in early spring of 2015, the contractor will complete the design plans for the new bridge.