Butler County Engineer
Greg Wilkens reports that a contract for five bridge replacements
is scheduled to get under way beginning Monday. Crews will start
work on Stout Road in Oxford Township where a narrow, one-lane
bridge built in 1950 will be replaced with a new two-lane structure.
Also slated for replacement are bridges on Canal Road in Fairfield
Township, Howe Road in Madison Township, Huston Road in Milford
Township, and Stillwell Road in Hanover Township.
"This is part
of our continuing effort to address weakening bridge structures
in Butler County," Wilkens said. "Many of these bridges
were built over 50 years ago and were not designed to handle
today's traffic volumes and heavier vehicles. More importantly,
weathering and natural deterioration present additional safety
concerns." Three of the five bridges are currently posted
with load limit restrictions, according to Wilkens.
A contract for all
five projects was awarded to W.G. Stang, Inc., of St. Clair Township,
which submitted a low bid of $704,241. All work is scheduled
for completion by this fall. The bridges will be replaced utilizing
funds from the State's OPWC (Ohio Public Works Commission) Issue
2 grant program. Wilkens secured the
grant money in 2002, a portion of which was applied to two
bridge replacements last fall and will help pay for two intersection
improvements this summer. "State Issue 2 funds have become
a critical source of outside revenue for the Engineer's Office,"
Wilkens emphasized. "It is an efficient and highly effective
means to solve existing infrastructure problems because it does
not have a lot of the red tape associated with other funding
sources."
Enacted in 1987 and
renewed by Ohio voters in 1995, the State Capital Improvements
Program enables the state to issue $120 million in bonds each
year to provide grants, loans, and financing for local debt support
and credit enhancement to local communities for the improvement
of their basic infrastructure systems.
- ~ Photo:
Old Stout Road bridge.
- ~ Photo:
Old Canal Road bridge.
- ~ Photo:
Old Howe Road bridge.
- ~ Photo:
Old Huston Road bridge.
- ~ Photo:
Old Stillwell Road bridge.
# # #
For more information contact:
- Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public
Information Supervisor
- Greg
Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
