By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007 turned the government's attention to bridge health. A crack found in a major bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis in 2021 did not help matters. Wednesday morning, Barton County Engineer Barry McManaman got approval from the commission to move forward with 372 bridge inspections slated for March 2023.
"If you remember the big bridge collapse in Minneapolis, that really spurred the federal government to say we need to be looking at our bridges," McManaman said. "That really pushed along some of this stuff."
Three contractors from around Kansas put in bids for the work, with a low offer of $29,760, and a high bid of $35,3450. In the middle, Ellsworth-based Kirkham Michael has done the county bridge inspections for nearly two decades. They won the bid at $33,480.
"Kirkhan Michael has worked really well," said McManaman. "They have familiarity with our bridges. Any time we have an issue that comes up, we can get with them. They've been very generous about sending somebody out to meet with us to take a look at a problem, and just being local, being out of Ellsworth, there's some value there, I believe."
Commissioner Jennifer Schartz asked if the bridge inspections were really necessary every two years. "I'm all about safety, and I know this probably really isn't a local county issue as much as it is a state, but is every two years really necessary?" she asked. "Even if they go to every three years, it would save the county $33,000 every three years."
McManaman said changes could be coming to the laws allowing inspections every three of four years. He said that would make sense for many of the county bridges.
"We have a lot of bridges out there that are either relatively new, or they're on roads that don't get salt, and they're in really good shape," he said. "Like Commissioner Schartz said, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have to inspect them every two years."
During an inspection, officials look at various elements of a bridge, including the substructure that holds the bridge up, the deck itself, and safety features around the bridge like guardrails, signing, and the approach. All the elements are visually rated on a scale of 1-10, with bridges graded at 4 or lower likely facing substantial repair or replacement. It will take Kirkham Michael approximately three weeks to inspect all 372 county bridges.