By: Contech Engineered Solutions LLC
In Fall 2023, a deteriorated bridge on County Road 70 in Logan County Ohio, was replaced with a deep corrugated structural plate buried bridge. Installing an innovative bridge structure resulted in the following: total project cost was over $17,000 less than the estimated cost to install a single-span superstructure on new piling and abutments. The structural plate option is also expected to have much lower maintenance costs over its lifespan versus a non-buried structure.
During the summer of 2021, the Logan County Engineer’s Office met with the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC). As stated on their website, STC’s goal is to “position soybean industry stakeholders to benefit from a transportation system that delivers cost-effective, reliable, and competitive service.” They’ve offered funding opportunities to select rural counties in Midwestern states because they realize “an efficient and well-maintained highway and bridge system is critical to the health of the soybean industry.” The STC was willing to consider funding pre-construction engineering and surveying services (up to a maximum amount of $10,000) if the county incorporated one of the ‘Top 20’ innovative bridge ideas into the county’s bridge selection. By choosing the structural plate option, one of the SPC’s ‘Top 20’ innovative bridge ideas the county saved an additional $8,188.93 of pre-construction engineering and surveying services.
Both of these projects saved money by having lower estimated project costs when compared to the bridges the county typically installs, a single-span superstructure on new piling and abutments, and because these bridges are buried, they’ll deteriorate much slower and require much less maintenance than a non-buried structure.
The BR 70-0.28 bridge replacement project that the Logan County Bridge Crew completed this fall involved the replacement of a 29’-6″ single-span steel stringer bridge that was built in 1958. This bridge underwent a major rehabilitation in 1997 when steel beams that were salvaged from an Ohio Department of Transportation bridge replacement project were reused and placed on the 1958 abutments. Recent bridge inspections revealed these beams were reaching the end of their life, which is why they were torn out and replaced with a 24’-1″ span by 10’-5″ rise deep corrugated structural plate arch.
The structural plate option allowed the Logan County bridge crew to self-install the structure. A preassembly meeting with Contech was held at the bridge site, during which Contech walked the team through the assembly plans and material sheets allowing the Logan County crew to successfully install the bridge.