trotwood

Emergency repairs in works for area bridge

County commission votes to forgo bids to get project started sooner.

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer 10:12 PM Tuesday, January 24, 2012

DAYTON — Safety concerns are forcing Montgomery County to speed up repair work on the Broadway Street Bridge over Wolf Creek in Trotwood.

The county engineer’s office has bypassed the competitive bidding process to get work started sooner than expected. Work on the three-span structure is set to get under way during the next two weeks and be completed this winter, weather permitting.

In the meantime, load restrictions have been posted at 15 tons.

“You can’t go through Trotwood on Broadway if you’re driving a semi (truck),” said Rick Splawinski, the county’s chief deputy engineer.

The repairs will cost an estimated $75,000.

That work should stabilize the structure until $1.7 million in federal funding gets funneled into Montgomery County for a full rehab, Splawinski, said.

“We have a full rehab coming, but a bridge in this deteriorating condition won’t make it until 2016,” he said.

The current concern centers on two deteriorating piers under the bridge that were identified by the county engineer’s office during a 2011 inspection.

“Safety of the bridge requires immediate attention,” Splawinski said.

“This is the part of the bridge you don’t see as you drive over it.”

Since the repairs are restricted to the underbelly of the bridge, the 130-foot-long span, built in 1960, will remain open during repairs.

Though the county currently does not have a traffic count for the bridge, Splawinski said Broadway is a major north-south artery through Trotwood. He suggested that vehicles exceeding the load limit should take an alternative route, such as Ohio 49.

This action marks the first time in at least five years that the county engineer has not bid out a project due to the need for emergency repairs, Splawinski said.

The County Commission approved the action Tuesday.

“We inspect all our bridges annually,” said Splawinski, adding that it takes six years to move projects through the pipeline for federal funding.

Share this article