The Marshall County Commissioners had a few questions about a contract being signed for bridge inspections.
USI Consultants inspected the county’s bridges as part of Phase One of the contract period. Nine of Marshall County’s bridges received a score of 4 or below. That indicates they’re in poor condition.
Supervisor of County Highways Jason Peters says some roadways are even worse.
“We’ve even had segments in there that are 3’s,” says Peters. “That’s according to our PASER testing, but that just goes to show you that everything is starting to show its wear.”
USI Consultants has proposed to supplement the bridge inspection contract that was entered into last year with the county. Phase Two of the inspection work still needs to be completed.
At least one of the commissioners believes that the changes are something INDOT recommends once infrastructure has been lowered to a certain level.
USI has charged Marshall County about $9-thousand to complete Phase One of the work. An additional $9-thousand will be charged for Phase Two. INDOT has agreed to supply 80-percent of the necessary funds for part of the work.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger said he was having difficulty understand the corresponding figures in the supplemental contract.
Peters says the new numbers reference the current quality of the bridge.
“It’s the state of the bridge so basically it’s saying it’s at 40% [quality] now so if it was to be at 30%, 20%, at some point it becomes a fail,” says Peters.
The supplemental contract was approved unanimously after clarification was received from USI.
