Bartholomew County officials are planning repairs next year on one of the most heavily traveled rural bridges in the region.
But whether or not permanent repairs take place on the concrete bridge located along East 25th Street over Clifty Creek, about a mile east of Petersville, depends largely on the impact of inflation, Bartholomew County Highway Engineer Danny Hollander said.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners assigned USI Consultants, Inc. of Indianapolis on Monday to handle early plans and specifications for what the county calls Bridge 317.
The concrete deck has substantially deteriorated since the spring of 1999, when the 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.
The Clifty Creek bridge has been listed among the top five Bartholomew County bridges most in need of rehabilitation since 2017.
In the past, Hollander has informed the county commissioners that using asphalt or other quick fixes to patch concrete bridges is far from being the ideal way to address deck problems.
Due to the anticipated high cost, Hollander said USI engineers will attempt to determine whether a lower-cost but long lasting repair alternative is possible. However, the county highway engineer warned the bridge may need a entirely new superstructure.
Hollander is referring to bridge elements on or above ground level (the deck). Those elements may include columns, beams and floor.
“We just need to get the structure sound,” the highway engineer said
Meanwhile, the commissioners also agreed to hire DLZ Indiana to do similar preliminary work on two other bridges.
One is located along County Road 800S southwest of Azalia. Known as Bridge 113, the structure is one of four bridges built in succession above East Fork White River, just east of State Road 11.
In April 2018, the county had to close this stretch for seven weeks of repairs after a snow plow sank into an abutment west of Bridge 113. It was later determined that water had gotten under the pavement, causing the ground to weaken and erode, Hollander said.
The third bridge that will be examined is located along County Road 115E, at the south end of Gladstone Avenue over Clifty Creek. The county commissioners has asked DLZ Indiana to examine that structure as well.
Both bridges being examined by DLZ will need a wider deck overlay, as well as minor repairs, Hollander said. He said he hopes those two projects are bundled together in hopes of saving money on engineering fees and contractor bids. Hollander adds the bundling makes sense because the projects are nearly identical.
“We want to determine the needs of all three projects,” Hollander said. “We’ll put together plans and specifications. Once that is done, we can determine how much money it will take to complete these projects, as well as whether we can decide whether to move forward or not.“
