Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/748269
November 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 18 bridge inventory | by Chris Hill | ChrisHill@randallreilly.com BRIDGE 2016 BETTER ROADS I N V E N T O R Y States take the lead Perhaps part of the reason for this is that several states have recently enacted methods specifically to fund bridge programs. One ex- ample is Nebraska's County Bridge Match Program, created earlier this year by the state's Transportation Innovation Act. It will provide $40 million through June 30, 2023, to be used to reimburse a county 55 per- cent of a project's bridge construc- tion costs (up to $150,000 for any one bridge). "Of the approximately 15,000 bridges in Nebraska, about 11,000 are on the county system," says Kent Miller, assistant bridge engi- neer, data and inventory for the Nebraska Department of Roads. "These tend to be smaller bridges and make up about 39 percent of the total bridge area in Nebraska. The program is designed to en- courage innovative ways to deliver lower-cost bridge construction projects." Miller adds the program will allow state and local funding for qualified county system bridges to target reduction of structurally de- ficient bridges and support design- build programming delivery. Last year, South Dakota initi- ated its Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) program to help fund bridge projects through a wheel-tax fund mandate at the county level. If a county does not collect the tax, they cannot apply for the grant funds. The program allots $7 mil- lion per year and the South Dakota DOT is kicking in an additional $2 million per year. "The Bridge Improvement Grant has had several impacts," says Laurie Schultz, South Dakota DOT (SDDOT) administration program manager. "The first was the require- ment to prioritize county structure replacements based on the condi- tion of the structure and the facility it carries. We require that public meetings be held and the bridge 2016 BETTER ROADS BRIDGE INVENTORY A t first, it seems like the typical bad news statistic you tend to get when you ask state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to comment on the condition of the bridges in their areas: Half of the state bridge engineers responding to our 2016 Better Roads Bridge Inventory said that low funding was their top ob- stacle in improving bridges. But this year's survey results provided an interesting twist: 10 percent fewer respondents cited funding as their top concern than did in last year's survey.