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."
Although permanent repairs to the bridge are not on the county’s list of upcoming projects, Hollander said some projects on that list have been postponed due to environmental issues.
"So we may have some money available this year," he said. "I still have to figure it out."
With that update, Kleinhenz asked Hollander to begin discussions with consultants or other experts to come up with the best approach to making permanent repairs to the bridge.
Lienhoop said he’d prefer an approach that extends the life of the bridge without having to "bust the whole floor out and start over."
That’s because making permanent repairs to the deck of a concrete bridge will be both expensive and inconvenient, Hollander said.
"Doing it right means cutting out a big square before you re-pour the concrete," Kleinhenz said. "Then, you shouldn’t have traffic on it for at least three or four days to let the concrete cure."
"The project would require the inconvenience of shutting down one side of the bridge for several days," Kleinhenz said. "But ultimately, that is what is going to have to be done."
These repairs would also require an outside contractor because making long-term concrete deck repairs are beyond the capabilities of county highway workers, Hollander said.
When asked whether there were any decks within his jurisdiction in worse shape, Hollander said the only comparable problem is on another bridge crossing Clifty Creek, but located south of Columbus along South Gladstone Avenue.
