The City of Baltimore is still reeling from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a cargo ship. According to experts, inspections and regular maintenance is key to preventing similar disasters.
In Brown County, Jerry Pittman President of the County Commissioners told the Democrat that the county uses a company called USI Consultants for bridge inspections. The bridges are inspected every two years, unless they have cause for concern. He said that bridges that need to be monitored closely can get inspections annually, biannually or even monthly.
Pittman said that the bridge on Mount Liberty Road that is closed is their main cause for concern. He said that the bridge was called out for repairs, but ultimately was closed by the state because of engineering issues that needed to be addressed.
The grated bridge will be completely replaced with a concrete bridge. Pittman told the Democrat that the commissioners will start bids for the Mount Liberty Bridge Project at their meeting on April 17.
He said that any project over $50,000 has a lot of elements that need to be bid, however anything over $150,000 is required by law to be bid out for at least 30 days.
“We’re trying to be frugal with taxpayers’ money,” Pittman said.
He said the next bridge causing concern is also on Mount Liberty Road and is south of State Road 46. The bridge needs to have engineering done because of the deteriorating concrete and rust on the beams, it currently has a 20-ton weight limit.
The Bridge Inspection Manager at USI Consultants Rob Coop said Brown County has 84 bridges. The term ‘bridge’ is only used when the structure is at least 20 feet in length; anything less than that is considered a ‘small structure’.
“The money to fix the bridges comes out of the Hum Capital Bridge Fund,” Pittman said. “The state gives money every year to that fund and we try to save as much as possible. Right now there is around $1,000,000 in there, but it could be $1,000,000 just for the bridge on State Road 46.”
Pittman said that the other bridges they have concern for within the next two to three years include the bridge on Sweetwater Trail and Hoover Road because of rust and the bridge on Countryclub Road close to Helmsburg Elementary School because of deterioration.
Coop said that during each inspection they take photos on each side of the bridge, read the previous report and complete a checklist of a full top-to-bottom inspection.
“We’ll create a maintenance list on things that highway guys can go out and work on within the next few weeks,” Coop said.
He said that they will list exactly what the bridge needs, which components can be repaired versus replaced and what the necessary time frame is.
“We issue a report with a replacement list, rehabilitation list and preventative list,” Coop said. He added, “We do inspections in October and can usually have the report to the county by March or April.”
Coop said that their most common concerns for bridges are erosion on the shoulders and scour, a type of underwater deterioration, that could potentially cause the bridge to collapse. He said that another common reason for bridge collapse is if an oversized vehicle crosses over it and weakens the support before other vehicles travel on it.
Coop encourages people with concerns about the safety or integrity of a local bridge, to contact the Brown County Highway Department by phone at (812) 988-4545.
