Ohio Bridge Partnership Completes 200th Project
State, federal, and local leaders officially cut the ribbon on the Bagdad Road bridge over the Rocky River earlier this month.
Officials from the state of Ohio joined with federal and local leaders earlier this month to cut the ribbon on the Bagdad Road bridge over the Rocky River. It is the 200th bridge completed under the Ohio Bridge Partnership Program between the Ohio Department of Transportation and local government partners.
The program was created in 2013 so local governments could apply for state and federal funding to work on bridges in need of major repair or replacement. The program, created in partnership with the County Engineers Association of Ohio, is investing $130 million into 224 bridges around Ohio, according to Ohio DOT.
Bridges were identified using these criteria:
- They must meet the federal bridge definition of being more than 20 feet long.They must be "structurally deficient," an engineering term given to bridges having maintenance issues that are safe but still require repair.
- They must currently be open and carrying traffic.
Ohio DOT reports that the state has more than 43,000 bridges, second only to Texas in the 50 states, and that while there is a federal mandate to inspect bridges once every two years, all of Ohio's bridges receive annual inspections.
"Whether they are traveling on an interstates, U.S. routes, state routes, county or township roads, motorist expect the bridges they cross to be safe," said ODOT Director Jerry Wray. "This program helps address the needs of our local government partners by leveraging the resources of the state and federal government."
The new Bagdad Road bridge is wider and built to handle more traffic; the project cost $752,000 to complete.