At the January 4 meeting, the county engineer Mike Pniewski presented the 2022 annual bridge inspection report.
“There are 194 bridges on the county bridge inventory,” he said, adding that his office is responsible for inspecting each and rating them.
Of the 161 bridges on county and township roads, 122 have ratings of good, 41; very good, 42; or excellent, 39. Of the 22 municipality bridges the ratings are good, five; very good, 10, and excellent, 10.
None of the county or municipality bridges are rated in serious, critical, imminent failure or failure, but one municipality and seven county /township bridges are listed as poor.
The remaining bridges have combined ratings of satisfactory, 31, and fair, eight.
There are 116 that exceed 20 feet in length, which is the length at which the National Bridge Inspection Standards requires inspection, he explained. Other structures with spans between 10 and 20 feet require inspection by the state.
The average age of bridges in the county is 45.8 years, and ODOT estimates the average useful life of a bridge to be 50 years, Mr. Pniewski continued.
“Some bridges will need to be rehabilitated or replaced to accommodate wider pavements or other improvements, but with good maintenance, many should have a useful life of 75 years,” the engineer said.
In the county, there are three federal structures with weight limits. One is the Perrysburg- Holland Road bridge over Cairl Creek which is scheduled to be replaced in 2024, and another, Gibbs Road over Ten Mile Creek will be replaced in 2028. The third at Omar Road over Shantee Creek has minimal traffic and is a rural road.
The Summit Creek bridge is the county’s longest at 418 feet and spans the Ottawa River. It is the only one in the county that requires a dive inspection due to the depth of the river at that location, Mr. Pniewski explained.
Last year, the engineer’s office rehabilitated a bridge on Garden Road over Cairl Creek in Springfield Township. This year, Mr. Pniewski plans to replace three bridges and rehabilitate two others. The 10-year capital program, which runs from 2023 to 2033, calls for seven bridge replacements and six major bridge repairs.
In closing, the county engineer said, “I look forward to working with you in maintaining and improving Lucas County’s transportation infrastructure.” ~Jane Maiolo
