Commissioners approve bridge inspection agreement

Bartholomew County Commissioners say regular bridge inspections help prevent accidents that could lead to a school bus crashing through a failing bridge into the river below.

Commissioners approved an agreement with the Indiana Department of Transportation to fund bridge inspections throughout the community at their meeting yesterday. County Highway Engineer Danny Hollander said the agreement would be for more than $237,000 and would pay for 80 percent of the cost of bridge inspections over the next two years.

County Commissioner Tony London pointed out that under the agreement, the county would end up paying about $30,000 a year to have all of the county bridges inspected. Commissioners President Larry Kleinhenz said that the regular inspections discover problems that can be fixed before a bridge fails under the weight of a school bus or truck.

Kleinhenz said the inspections discovered dangerous conditions on a County Road 400W over East Fork White River earlier this year which led to an emergency closure of the bridge.