The Starke County Highway Department is working toward a goal of having zero deficient bridges in the county.
The effort has shown as there are only two that remain on the list. Referring to the Phase 2A report that pertains to bridge inspections, Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners they are mindful of a couple of areas to make sure they don’t worsen too quickly.
“One of the aluminum box culverts doesn’t need to be replaced, but we need to keep an eye on it so we’d like that inspected every 12 months, as well as the 300 East bridge over the Yellow River by the industrial park. We want that looked at as well. Those are in there for kind of safety reasons. They don’t need to be replaced yet,” commented Ritzler.
He said the county may not have any deficiencies for two weeks until the new report comes out in September. There are two bridges that could be close to being considered for replacement, but the county will know when the report is disbursed.
There are four bridge projects in the works this year. Construction will begin in March on Bridge No. 58 on County Road 800 South over Bogus Run east of County Road 200 W. Construction on Bridge No. 36 will begin in May. That bridge is located on County Road 25 North, west of 600 East over Eagle Creek. Bids will be opened in April for Bridge No. 154 on County Road 100 East over the Robbins Ditch north of County Road 400 North. Plans are open bids in July for Bridge No. 7 on County Road 1200 East over the Yellow River north of County Road 250 South.
