Mike Wolanin | The Republic Motorists pass over the Lowell Road Bridge in Columbus, Ind., Friday, March 15, 2019.
County officials have signed an agreement with an Indianapolis engineering firm to begin work needed to replace the Lowell Bridge, which crosses the Driftwood River south of Columbus.
A $1,189,700 design and construction agreement with United Consulting Engineers of Indianapolis was approved by the Bartholomew County commissioners on Monday.
Work on the bridge is expected to begin after July 1, 2026.
Since the new bridge will be built south of the existing one, engineers will also realign the junction of Lowell Road and County Road 325W to accommodate heavy traffic, county officials said. The county plans to keep the current bridge open while the new one is under construction, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
Up to 95% of motorists who cross Lowell Bridge utilize County Road 325W and Lowell Road to travel between U.S. 31 and State Road 46 West, Hollander said.
“It has become a significant bypass to get around the city traffic,” commissioner Tony London said.
Due to rising construction costs, the total cost of the entire project is expected to be about $11 million, the commissioners estimated. That compares to $195,000 spent in 1959 to construct the 433-feet long existing bridge.
The only county-maintained bridge longer than Lowell is the 1,600-foot Southern Crossing bridge and connecting road that opened in 1996, Kleinhenz said.
While the county has already been awarded $8 million to start building a new Lowell Bridge, the federal matching grant won’t be available for another four years.
“When you start dealing with federal funds, there are just a lot of hoops you have to jump through,” Hollander said.
Challenges include relocating utilities, acquiring right of way, environmental studies and various inspections, according to requirements of previous federally-funded projects.
But the biggest hoop to jump through will be the $3 million in funds the county will need to match the grant.
“That’s going to be almost 80% of our yearly bridge fund,” Kleinhenz said. “But this is a needed project, and its good planning on our part. We are anticipating more growth from the west side of town.”
A number of Indiana counties surrender similar federal grants because they were financially unable to provide the 20% match, Hollander said.
But the Bartholomew County Commissioners managed to get ahead of the game in late 2020 when they approved a $54,000 designing contract with United Consulting Engineers. Under that agreement, the Indianapolis firm accepted the responsibility of coming up with at least three different design options for the intersection realignment on the south side of the bridge.
“Actually, (engineers) have been working on it for over two years,” commissioner Chairman Carl Lienhoop said Monday.
Since the federal money won’t be made available until after July 1, 2026, it appears the commissioner and council have a substantial amount of time to search for additional funds.
Hollander said his department scaled back some of its work in 2021 to start saving for the new bridge. In addition, he said he anticipates the county will request financial help to meet the matching grant through the Indiana Department of Transportation.
What’s in the agreement
The following is included in the $1.2 million design and construction agreement approved Monday between Bartholomew County government and United Consulting Engineers of Indianapolis. The design work will eventually provide a new Lowell Bridge, as well as the realignment of County Road 325W.
Under the agreement, the contacting firm is obligated to provide the follow services:
Environmental services, soil testing, utility coordination, hydraulic analysis, abbreviated engineer’s assessment, traffic data collection, intersection capacity analysis, pavement design, right-of-way engineering and the post-bid design services.
Design and plans on three major facets of the project: lighting, road and bridge.
