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Indiana report gauges road, bridge conditions

By Michele F. Mihaljevich

Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –— Sixty-three percent of Indiana’s county roads were in good or fair shape in 2017, according to a report released last month. The study also found that 9 percent of the state’s more than 13,000 bridges were structurally deficient, and 15 percent functionally obsolete.

Seventy-two percent of roads in cities and in towns were deemed to be good or fair.

The roads and bridges condition report was released by the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). Bob McCullouch, LTAP manager, said the agency will publish reports annually.

“We’re trying to look at the (road and bridge) network in its entirety,” he explained. “As we do more reports, we hope to develop a rolling index and look at trends. We want to see how we can take our resources and spread them out over the structures rated as fair and poor so the fair won’t become poor.”

The 2017 report follows one released in December 2016. There weren’t significant changes in the condition numbers between the two reports. Last year, 14 percent of county roads were designated as good, while 49 percent were fair and 37 percent poor. In 2016, 11 percent were good, 49 percent fair and 40 percent poor.

For city roads, 16 percent were good last year, with 56 percent fair and 28 percent poor. Fifteen percent were considered good in 2016, while 59 percent were fair and 26 percent poor.

In 2017, 18 percent of town roads were good, 54 percent fair and 28 percent poor. The previous year, 17 percent were good, 54 percent were fair and 29 percent, poor.

In 2016, 9.5 percent of the state’s bridges were listed as structurally deficient and 14 percent were designated functionally obsolete.

Officials examine a road’s surface during the evaluation process to help determine what’s going on underneath, McCullouch said. For example, they look for cracks, potholes and the condition of the road’s edge. They only rate paved roads and not gravel. The width of a road is also not a part of the evaluation process.

Width is a part of the inspection of bridges – if it’s too narrow, a bridge is considered functionally obsolete, he noted. “When a bridge is inspected, they look at the foundation, the superstructure (deck, slab, girders) and the substructure (items such as piers and abutments that support the superstructure),” McCullouch noted.

“They’re looking for bad bearings, exposed rebar, quality of the deck, if there’s rust on the girders. If a bridge is considered structurally deficient, that doesn’t mean it’s in danger of immediate collapse. It may have a reduced capacity limit. It does need some major upgrades to fix those issues.”

Clearance concerns may also lead to a bridge designation of functionally obsolete, he added. When necessary, load limit reductions are posted by the county engineer.

The 2016 and 2017 reports contain data from most of the state’s counties, cities and towns. It’s difficult to compare data from these reports with earlier versions because previous surveys didn’t include as many responses and used different criteria, he said.

Information for future reports will come from asset management plans required at the county, city and town levels. As a part of the plans, roads will be re-rated every two years. Federal law requires bridges to be inspected every two years.

Effect on rural areas

Farmers can be impacted by narrow and crumbling roads, bridges with low weight limits and the construction needed to improve those conditions, said Justin Schneider, director of state government relations for Indiana Farm Bureau.

“One of the challenges our members run into is during construction, a road or bridge might be down to one lane or closed,” he noted. “They can’t get their farm equipment through. A detour takes time. We work with INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) to try to provide access.”

Modern farm equipment makes narrow roads and bridges more of a concern, Schneider said. “Today’s equipment just won’t go through. The scale of agriculture has grown over the years. Equipment is bigger. If you’re on a large piece of equipment, it’s hard to meet people on a lot of those rural roads. There may not be a shoulder or there’s a drop-off, or trees and power lines close to the road.

“There’s such a backlog of work that has to be done. Everyone will need to show patience and perseverance.”

One of the challenges moving forward, he pointed out, is that funding may restrict repair of a road or bridge to areas with the most immediate needs. “The budget may allow them to repair one-eighth of a mile here or one-fourth of a mile there. Fixing some of the worst spots is both good and frustrating. They will try to get caught up. It will shake out over the next few years as counties sort out the resources they have.”

Over the last couple years, Indiana has announced programs designed to improve the state’s highway system. One is the Community Crossings Matching Grant Program, which began in 2016. Since it began, the program has provided $300 million in state funds to counties, cities and towns for local road and bridge projects, according to INDOT.

Infrastructure projects in urban and rural areas help boost economic development, create jobs and strengthen local transportation networks, the agency said. Eligible projects include road resurfacing and preservation, bridge rehabilitation or replacement, chip sealing and crack filling.

“Overall, the state recognizes there’s a need that goes beyond interstate roads and highways,” said Scott Manning, INDOT spokesperson. “Rural roads and bridges are as important a component as those interstate roads and highways. There’s an economic impact to farmers of having a bridge that’s been low-graded. A farmer or grain supplier may have a critical route and, if it’s downgraded, they may have to go 20 to 30 miles out of their way.”

Depending on the size of the government unit, the state may pay 50 or 75 percent of a given local project under the Community Crossings program. The state asks local entities to submit projects for funding approval.

This year’s call for projects begins August 6 and ends Sept. 28. INDOT will announce projects to be funded in October or November. After this year, subsequent calls for projects will be done twice a year – in January and July.

The state’s Next Level Roads plan unveiled in July 2017 will provide more than $4.7 billion to repair or replace highways and bridges over five years. Under the program, about 10,000 lane miles will be added or resurfaced from 2018-22, while nearly 1,300 bridges will be rehabilitated or replaced.

Multiple projects are planned in each of the state’s 92 counties.

In 2018, more than 900 projects are planned statewide with a total investment of more than $1 billion, according to INDOT. Included are the resurfacing of 2,229 lane miles and the rehabilitation or replacement of 613 bridges or culverts.

“INDOT receives a lot of requests for bridge deck replacements or total replacements,” Manning said. “At the county level, a lot of communities will submit bridge deck replacements because it’s such a high cost. It can cost $3 (million) to $6 million.

“When INDOT officials approve a project, they’re looking at what’s proposed from the construction and engineering standpoint. They’re also looking at the human and economic impacts – how a given project fits in with the asset management plan the local community has created.”

Schneider said he expects improvement in the condition of the state’s roads and bridges once some approved and proposed projects are completed.

“Hopefully they will focus on the worst (conditions) to get repaired first,” he noted. “The challenge for locals is they’ve historically had a low number of dollars. They all had hopes, but didn’t have a plan in place. They had a wish list, but they wanted assurance of dollars in place before they bid on projects.”

7/18/2018