Starke County Highway Superintendent, Steve Siddall, recently distributed a priority schedule for bridges in the county to county officials. 19 bridges are on the schedule and Siddall explained what the schedule means.
“It gives us an overall look at what bridges need immediate work and what the time frame is for the type of work or the year – if it needs to be replaced or rehabbed. It depends on what the bridge companies think that we’re going to have. The life span of the bridge is also taken into consideration,” stated Siddall.
Three bridges on the 2012 schedule are closed and they include bridges #62, #9 and #51 . Siddall talked about the time line for getting these bridges open.
“Bridges #62 and #9 are getting ready to be bid in March and we hope to have construction started in April and a couple months after that they will be open. Bridge #51, we’re getting ready to bid the engineering out and once the engineering is bid out, then we’ll get all the IDEM permits or whatever we need to get the bridge ready to bid. I hope to have it bid by the end of May or the first of June.”
Siddall told how the list is assembled.
“We don’t do this. The Commissioners hire a firm to do the bridge inspections which is required by the State of Indiana. They set up a priority list and we’re getting close to getting caught up to the normal year which is what we strive to do.”
