Bridge Building Timelines

Presented by The Richland County

Engineers Office

Thomas E. Beck, PE, PS77 North Mulberry Street Mansfield, Ohio 44902

Jan. 13, 2009

Financial Facts Of Life

• Current local tax revenue completely inadequate to handle all needed county infrastructure work.

• Bridge construction almost completely dependent on obtaining federal and state grants available for bridge construction.

• Federal and state funds are limited.• Richland County is the third largest

user of bridge funds in the state.• Partially reimbursed for design,

construction time & materials.

Federal Grant Applications

• Obtaining federal grants for bridge construction is a long, slow process.

• Typically it takes 4 to 5 years from the time we make application for funding, until the new bridge is completed.

Federal Grant Application Steps

• Application

• Review and ranking by CEAO

• Review by ODOT

• Approval – this approval designates the year in which funding will be available.

Site Survey• Site survey

– Title search (collect deeds, surveys, owners names, address)

– Recover and/or establish property lines/corners, section lines/corners

– Determine existing right of way lines

– Obtain elevation data for roads and streams.

– Locate all utilities– Convert survey data to digital

data for CAD so site plan can be prepared.

Hydraulic Analysis

• Hydraulic analysis – Proposed structure must be adequate to handle projected water flows per design criteria.

• Includes historical weather/climate data showing average rainfall, periods of flooding and volume of water

Reinforced Concrete Box Bridge

Reinforced Concrete Box Beam Steel Truss

Timber Bridge

Decision on Bridge Type Bridge design is tailored to specifics needs of site

Design Phase • Design: (design must meet

all state and federal standards for the type of bridge to be built)– Stage 1 drawings –

preliminary design– Stage 2 plans – submit

to ODOT for approval– Stage 3 final design– (note: ODOT may return

the plans for modifications)

Environmental Review

• Submit environmental document showing environmental impact of the proposed bridge construction including:– Streams and wetlands– Threatened or Endangered

species– Floodplains and farmlands– Cultural and Historical – Hazardous materials– Public Involvement

Permit Approvals

• Army Corps of Engineers

• FEMA

• Ohio EPA

• ODNR

• Others

Rights of Way Acquisition

• Rights of Way – ODOT right of way

agreement needed before right of way can be sought.

– Acquire ROW: (again, federal and state requirements must be adhered to in this acquisition process)

Rights of Way Acquisition

• Three means of right of way acquisition

– Donation

– Negotiation

– Eminent Domain

Rights of Way Acquisition Donation

– Property owners can donate the ROW easement for the process (when this occurs it greatly speeds construction of the bridge).

– Easy and quick

Rights of Way Acquisition Negotiation

• Appraisal• Appraisal review • Title report• Acquisition negotiations• Agreement• Payment• This process will most

likely add 6 months to the project time frame.

– If negotiation is not successful then Legal process is instituted involving court approval of the acquisition.

– Adds at least an additional 6 more months to the process

– Court action also increases project costs

Rights of Way Acquisition Eminent Domain Proceedings

Bidding, Award and Contracting

• Prepare Bids• Advertise Bids (3 weeks)• Pre bid meetings when needed• Opening of Bids• Bid review – lowest/best• Bid acceptance, award by Board

of Commissioners • Legal contract execution.• Mandatory pre-construction

meeting with ODOT, engineers, utilities and contractors.

Finally Construction Starts• Basic Bridge Construction

Steps– Site clearing and

preparation– Excavation , grading and

drainage.– Foundation work– Abutment construction– Bridge superstructure and

deck– Paving– Guard rail, seeding and

site restoration– Inspection and testing

occurs throughout entire construction process

Some Facts About Crimson Road Bridge Project

Crimson Road Facts– Application for federal grant funding was made on August 3, 2005.

Approval was obtained on October 31, 2005. Note: this approval specified funding to be available for construction in the year 2010.

– Due to accelerated deterioration bridge was closed June 23, 2008.

– The bridge was designated to be replaced approximately five years ago. Since June 18, 2007, the bridge has been inspected monthly.

– As monthly inspections revealed, the old bridge was rapidly nearing a dangerous condition.

– The Engineer’s staff succeeded in getting the funding approval advanced to 2009.

Crimson Road Facts

– Bids could have been obtained and construction possibly underway in 2008 but…….

– Adjacent property owners chose not to donate the needed ROW easements. This involved very small portions of four parcels at little projected value.

– There is no easy, inexpensive temporary fix which can be made to extend the bridge’s life. The major steel beams which support the bridge deck are rusted to the point that it is simply no longer safe to permit vehicles on the bridge.

Summary• Bridge construction is a

complex and drawn out process requiring long lead times for funding approval, design, environmental review , permitting, bidding and contracting.

• Right of way acquisition can speed up or slow down the process considerably

• The Richland County Engineers Office will continue to diligently pursue the successful completion of the Crimson Road bridge project.