Its condition, deck and superstructure are all rated as poor, according to NBI, a database maintained by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration that compiles bridge information and inspection reports for every state.
A structural appraisal of the bridge, which was reconstructed in 1970, shows it is “basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action.”
Work on the project will include removal of the roadway, replacement of rusted, deteriorated box beams under the road and modification to the existing bridge abutments and wing-walls.
“The bridge has been low-graded, which means it can’t handle the full capacity, the full tonnage of vehicles going over it,” Miamisburg City Engineer Bob Stanley said. “What this project does is it removes those deteriorated box beams, replaces them and then puts down a brand new road on top of them, and then what we can do is lift that load rating and it will essentially be treated as a new structure for several more years before a ... replacement is required.”
The bridge’s rehabilitation will take about four months and wrap up no later than November, he said. It will be closed between 60 and 90 days during construction with traffic detoured.
Among the 27,151 bridges in Ohio, 61% (16,493) are in good condition, 34% (9,324) are in fair condition and 5% (1,334) are poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. Of Montgomery County’s 637 bridges, 63.7% (406) are in good condition, 32.8% (209) are in fair condition and 3.5% (22) are in poor condition.
Central Avenue is “basically just a residential street” that sees about 500 to 600 vehicles a day, Stanley said. While that “isn’t a lot,” it is significant because the road and its bridge are used by local residents to get to Mark Twain Elementary School, Beachler Field and “a pretty significant local church,” he said.
Miamisburg City Council voted Tuesday to accept the construction contract for Brumbaugh Construction Inc., of Arcanum, which submitted the lowest bid for the project at a cost not to exceed $731,678.
A $546,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Municipal Bridge Program will cover the bulk of the project’s cost, with the remainder coming from Miamisburg’s Capital Improvement Plan, Stanley said.
Miamisburg applied and was selected for a grant in 2018. It completed design and right-of-way efforts last year before putting the project out to bid Jan. 1, Stanley said.
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