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Bluebag Media
In-house bridge
fabrication saves taxpayer dollars
GREENVILLE – “These guys are getting it down to a science,” said Darke
County Engineer Jim Surber, watching County Highway personnel assemble
fabricated steel pieces for a bridge to be replaced this summer.
The steel was being fabricated and assembled in a storage building at
the highway department. “In the past, we had to order the fabricated
pieces,” he said. Shane Coby, County Highway Superintendent, added
“That’s why we can do 13 bridges instead of two.”
The plan for the summer is 13 bridges… six will be new structures,
seven will be rehabs. “Doing our own fabrication for the bridge
superstructure represents a 70 percent savings,” Coby added. Surber
noted they were also doing it with county employees. “They are on the
payroll, regardless of the job they’re working on.” Put in dollar
figures, the average cost per bridge is $40 to $50 thousand. If the
same work was done through the traditional bidding process, the price
tag for the summer could run as high as $1.5 million.
“Even so, we’re limited,” Surber said. “Since 2003, Ohio law prohibits
a county engineer from building any bridges costing over $100,000… and
we have to build in inflationary cost. If a bridge is going to cost $50
or $60 thousand, my estimate has to be $80 thousand...
Read the rest of the article at Bluebag Media
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