COLUMBUS, Ind. — Long-needed permanent repairs to the East 25th Street bridge over Clifty Creek might be made sooner than later.
The deck has substantially deteriorated since the spring of 1999, when Bartholomew County took control of East 25th Street, from Talley Road to State Road 9. Up to that time, the two-lane highway that included the bridge was part of State Road 46 and maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
For the past 22 years, county highway crews have attempted to made temporary patches to the concrete bridge east of Petersville.
“Whether it’s a Durapatch or an asphalt patch, you can fix it and drive right over it,” Bartholomew County commissioners’ chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
But using asphalt or other quick fixes to patch concrete bridges is far from being the ideal way to address deck problems, County Highway Engineer Danny Hollander has said in the past.
So when county commissioner Carl Lienhoop said Monday the bridge will need attention “down the road,” the highway engineer’s immediate response was: “Not down the road. It needs it now.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
