02-23-2001
Twenty-nine percent of bridges in the U.S. were rated by the government as “deficient” as of Aug. 31, according to a recent Associated Press story.
But you may have a hard time finding any of those deficient bridges in Kosciusko County.
“I’m pretty pleased with how our bridges are,” said Rob Ladson, Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer.
A bridge, Ladson said, “is anything that has a span of 20 feet or larger. What a span is ... is the opening where the water goes through. It is not the width of the bridge, it’s the opening underneath.”
If the distance from the end of one culvert to the end of another culvert is 20 feet or more, that is also classified as a bridge. Under federal guidelines, Ladson said, the county must inspect bridges every two years. The federal government reimburses the county for 80 percent of the inspection cost.
According to a copy of the 2000 Bridge Sufficiency Rating Report, compiled by the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program, Kosciusko County received an average sufficiency rating of 90.48, an “A,” and ranks fifth out of 92 counties.
A sufficiency rating represents a composite rating weighted to assess how safe, serviceable, functional and essential the bridges are. The ratings range from zero to 100, with a lower value indicating a lower degree of sufficiency and a higher need for replacement or repair. Ratings of 80 to 100 are considered adequate, according to the report.
“Bridges which are deficient,” said Ladson. “That sounds, I think, worse than what it means. It doesn’t mean they’re unsafe. Maybe they aren’t up to par or with the latest safety things. For example, maybe the bridge is a little narrow for the level of road or something. There’s other things in there.”
With 99 bridges in Kosciusko County, only three had a sufficiency rating of less than 50 at the time of the report. However, “two have already been replaced,” said Ladson.
Those two bridges already replaced are bridge 212 on Old U.S. 30 that crosses Elder Creek, and bridge 267 on CR 900E, which crosses Lake Wawasee Channel. Bridge 290 on Venetian Drive over Lake Wawasee Channel is scheduled to be replaced in a few years.
“The money (for bridge 290) was appropriated this year. We set it aside so it’s earning interest. ... It’s on the agenda,” said Ladson.
The report also provides a table of bridges that should be posted or closed by county. “Though we do have some that are classified as deficient, does that mean they should be closed? No. We don’t really have any that should be closed or must be closed. We have some that are posted. What posted means is that it sets a maximum amount of weight that should be crossing the bridge,” said Ladson. The county has three posted bridges.
How are bridges and bridge repairs funded?
“In Kosciusko County, we have the cumulative bridge fund,” said Ladson. “It’s (from) property tax. It’s the only property taxes this department receives. It can only be used for bridges. What we receive each year in this fund is approximately half a million dollars.”
The tax rate for the fund is approximately 6 cents. By state law, that can go up to 30 cents. Compared to other counties, Ladson said, Kosciusko County’s tax rate is fairly low. Allen County’s rate is 29 cents, Fulton County’s rate is 12 cents, Grant County’s rate is 17 cents, Noble County’s rate is 7 cents and Whitley County’s rate is almost 10 cents.
If the span of what some may consider to be a bridge is less than 20 feet, it’s not classified as a bridge.
“That structure is not a bridge. It looks like a bridge, but it’s not a bridge. It would not have been included in the study. (Twenty-foot span) is a federal definition,” said Ladson. “If a 19-foot span collapses, is it just as dangerous? ... Yeah it is. ... We gave these a name. We call them ‘small structures.’ We define them as anything with a span between 3 feet and 20 feet.”
The state code definition of a bridge is pretty vague, Ladson said, so the Kosciusko County Commissioners approved an ordinance on how the cumulative bridge funds can be used for small structures. The ordinance says the funds can be used for anything that has a minimum span of 3 feet, is on a county-maintained road or municipality-maintained street, or is placed on the small structure inspection list. In no case, however, can the cumulative bridge funds be used to build or install a new small structure.
Ladson said, “The good thing is, there appears to be plenty of funding to meet the need, at least in Kosciusko County. But we need to continue a proactive maintenance approach on it.”
Last year a dozen small structures were replaced. One has already been replaced this year.
One area where Ladson said the county does need work is the guard rails around the bridges and getting them up to correct standards. “You’ll see some of the bridges, we’ve already done that,” he said.