A decision has been made to replace, rather than repair, a bridge that crosses Haw Creek northeast of Hope.
Emergency repairs were initially authorized April 23 after a wing wall collapsed near the edge of Bridge 66, wiping out about five feet of County Road 900E near the Shelby County line.
But a few weeks later, work was stopped after crews discovered they were attempting to drive sheets of steel into solid rock hidden under the soil.
After examining the problem, it was determined that repairs would cost more than what the bridge is worth, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners last week followed Hollander’s recommendation by agreeing to hire USI Consultants, an Indianapolis-based engineering and survey firm, to design an entirely new bridge.
Representatives of the firm, also known as United Surveying, Inc., intend to have final plans for the bridge replacement drawn up by this fall, Hollander said.
The bridge replacement project will be contracted out through a normal competitive bidding process, the commissioners stated.
Meanwhile, road crews have managed to stabilize the collapsing earthen embankment, Hollander said. Barricades and signage have been put up to warn drivers that the river crossing will serve as a one-lane bridge, he said.
Inconvenience caused by the current restrictions, as well as eventual bridge replacement, should be tolerable, Hollander said.
That section of County Road 900E has a low traffic volume, as well as a detour involving State Road 9 that is only a mile-and-a-half way, Hollander said.
However, the unbudgeted expense could temporarily delay one of the bridge replacements slated to begin this year, commissioner Rick Flohr said.
Scheduled for replacements are:
Bridge 301 on County Road 300E over the Sydney Branch of the Flatrock River, north of St. Louis Crossing.
Bridge 57 on Stafford Road, over Little Haw Creek.
Bridges 188 and 189, located about 800 feet apart on County Road 400W, about a mile southwest of the Woodside Business Center.
