Most of county’s 212 bridges in good condition


Bridge conditions in 2012

73 — As built condition

76 — Good condition

38 — Generally Good Condition

19 — Fair condition

5 — Generally Fair condition

1 — Marginal condition

0 — Poor condition

0 — Critical condition, urgent rehab needed

0 — Critical condition, facility is closed

0 — Critical condition, closed and beyond repair

212 — Total

The vast majority of Champaign County’s 212 bridges are in good condition, but County Engineer Stephen McCall wants the county to continue an aggressive maintenance schedule to ensure they don’t fall into disrepair.

An annual bridge report from the county shows that of the county’s 212 bridges, the majority of them don’t need repairs or require only minor maintenance.

In the report, county bridges were ranked on a scale of nine to zero — a nine means the bridge is in the best condition possible while a zero means it’s in critical condition and beyond repair.

The report ranked 149 of the county’s bridges either as an eight or a nine, meaning no repairs are needed.

Another 38 bridges were ranked as in generally good condition, five were listed as in generally fair condition and only one was ranked as in marginal condition, meaning there is the potential for major rehabilitation.

No bridges were listed in poor condition or worse.

Four bridges will be replaced this year, McCall said, in an effort to stay ahead of needed maintenance.

“We’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in,” McCall said.

The four bridges that will be replaced this year include Urbana-Woodstock, Stony Creek, Sheehe and Slate Stone roads.

The Urbana-Woodstock Bridge is a roughly $200,000 project, McCall said, and the county will likely seek funding assistance through the Ohio Public Works Commission. That project will be bid out to a contractor later this year.

The other three bridge replacement projects are expected to each cost less than $100,000, and McCall said county work crews will likely replace those bridges using money from the gasoline tax and license fees.

In addition, the county could replace as many as 45 culverts this year. Overall, there are about 2,200 culverts in the county.

“Last summer was pretty dry and when we did our culvert inspection, it allowed us to see our deficiencies,” McCall said.

County crews typically replace about four bridges annually to stay ahead of schedule, McCall said.

In Clark County, an annual report showed the county plans to replace as many as 11 bridges this year.

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