CRACKED ARCH: This 90-year-old bridge that carries Wind Haven Lane over Prairie Creek on Lebanon’s northwest side is one of three in the city that are rated structurally deficient. Staff photo by Rod Rose
Nearly two dozen bridges in Boone County, including three in Lebanon and two on state highways, are considered structurally deficient, according to inspection records complied by a private organization.
One of the bridges, carrying CR 950 E over Mounts Runn, is 122 years old — and in better shape than many of the newer bridges on the list.
More than one in nine of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient, found Transportation For America, a not-for-profit group that lobbies the federal government to increase spending on roads and bridges. The group reviewed inspection reports filed in 2013.
The Federal Highway Administration’s bridge ratings range from 9, for excellent condition, to 0. A component rated 1 has critical faults or obvious vertical or horizontal movement, and is considered in imminent failure. Components rated 0 are considered beyond repair.
The ratings assess the condition of three components: The deck, superstructure and substructure. The deck is the surface on which vehicles and pedestrians travel. The superstructure supports the deck, and the substructure anchors the superstructure and deck to the ground.
Indiana is one of 15 states that saw an increase in the number of structurally deficient bridges between 2011 and 2013, TFA found. Indiana ranked 23rd for the number of deficient bridges in 2013, with 1,996 of the 18,753 bridges.
Bridges that are rated structurally deficient are not unsafe, Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Debbie Calder said.
Indiana spends about $273 million annually on bridge preservation and maintenance, Calder said.
“At least every two years, INDOT performs a routine inspection on all of its bridges,” she said. “INDOT uses the latest bridge ratings and other condition data to select the right projects for each bridge’s life cycle.”
Examples of those projects include deck overlays, steel beam painting, deck replacement, rehabilitation and replacement, Calder said.
“Maintaining bridges and keeping them in good condition for as long as possible has been INDOT’s renewed focus these past few years,” she said. “It is the best way to improve bridge condition statewide for our transportation dollars.”
The state maintains bridges on state and federal highways. Other bridges in Indiana counties are maintained by the board of county commissioners, no matter if those structures are within a town or city limit. Boone Highway Engineer Craig Parks, who has only been on the job since July, could not be reached for comment at press time.
According to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, Boone County disbursed $2.9 million from the cumulative bridge fund in 2014, and $2.8 million was for repairs and maintenance. In 2013, the county spent $1.1 million, with $927,788 going to repairs and maintenance.
Of the three structurally deficient bridges in Lebanon, one is due for replacement, and another is on a dead-end road that is used only about 20 times a day.
Plans are in place to rebuild the Main Street bridge over Prairie Creek, near a secondary entrance to Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon. The bridge was built in 1930 and is crossed by about 100 vehicles daily. Its deck and superstructure were rated poor, and the substructure fair, in 2013, the TFA said.
The Wind Haven Lane structure over Prairie Creek was built in 1925, the TFA said. No ratings were available, but the superstructure is visibly deteriorated.
The state Route 75 bridge over Wells Ditch, south of Advance, was built in 1936 and carries about 2,110 vehicles daily. The superstructure is rated poor, the deck and substructure fair. The Ind. 39 bridge over Sugar Creek at Mechanicsburg has a poor deck, a satisfactory superstructure and a good substructure.
In Zionsville, the 1970-era Templin Road bridge over Little Eagle Creek, which carried an average of 1,150 cars, has a deck and superstructure considered poor, and a substructure rated satisfactory.
Built in 1955 when it was a section of state Route 334, the Sycamore Street bridge over Eagle Creek, with an average daily volume of 11,620 vehicles, has a poor deck, with superstructure and substructure rated satisfactory. Boone County received $1 million from INDOT when Ind. 334 was turned over to the county for maintenance.
Fifteen of the bridges are rural, including two that are considered historic. The CR 200 E bridge over Sugar Creek has a poor deck, substructure and superstructure. Also called the Scotland Church Bridge, the structure is on the National Register of Historic Places, making its replacement problematic. About 150 vehicles daily use the stone arch structure, built in 1901.
Bridge 70, which carries CR 600 E over Mounts Runn, is also historic. The concrete slab structure was built in 1930, and was due to be rebuilt in 2011. But the bridge qualifies for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because of its design. The bridge crosses the creek at an angle and that “skew” is believed to be unique, the county commissioners were told by Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services at Indiana Landmarks, in October 2011.
Indiana Landmarks, a not-forprofit organization that seeks to preserve the state’s architecturally significant properties, from bridges to barns to homes and business buildings, worked with INDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to list all historic bridges in the state, Dollase said.
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