FREDERICKTOWN — The deteriorating condition of the Montgomery Road bridge at the eastern edge of Fredericktown has caused concern about its ability to hold heavy vehicles, including firefighting equipment.
The current weight limit on the bridge is 15 tons, less than most fire engines. The rapid deterioration of the bridge has caused some county officials, as well as fire officials in Fredericktown, to seek immediate help with repair or replacement of the bridge.
Because Montgomery Road is the fastest route from the village to a large portion of the Fredericktown Community Fire District’s fire protection area, including parts of Berlin, Morris and Monroe townships, valuable time could be lost if the fire department is forced to use other routes.
A house fire earlier this month on Divelbiss Road east of Fredericktown was one such emergency. According to Fire Chief Scott Mast, at least two minutes, and perhaps as many as four, were added to the fire department’s response time because engines had to be rerouted onto Fredericktown-Amity Road to go around the bridge.
Mast has brought the matter to the attention of the Knox County Commissioners, and discussed the situation with County Engineer Jim Henry. Mast and the commissioners would like Henry to seek emergency Ohio Public Works Commission funding to repair or replace to the bridge.
The commissioners sent a letter to Henry on Friday, one day after meeting with Mast and Fredericktown Police Chief Jerry Day. Henry said in an interview Friday that he will not seek the emergency funding, and will instead place the request for bridge funding through OPWC this October. The money, if approved, would then become available in July of 2009.
“I do not believe this qualifies as an emergency,” Henry said, explaining that school buses and the rescue squad are still able to travel over the bridge. He said if the deterioration continues to the point that the weight limit must be lowered further, and squads and buses could not travel safely, he might consider the emergency request.
Henry said that in the past, such emergency funding has been accessed when bridges have collapsed, or been struck by vehicles and damaged.
According to Henry, much of the bridge’s deterioration is due to water and salt which have seeped through the asphalt to the corrugated metal decking and steel I-beams below. The I-beams are not galvanized and have rusted, in some places completely through.
Ohio Department of Transportation Bridge Engineer Curtis Zigan, who has not inspected the Montgomery Road bridge but is familiar with the type of materials used in its construction, said ODOT does not permit its contractors to use either corrugated metal decking or asphalt because they deteriorate too rapidly.
“The asphalt provides no strength whatsoever,” Zigan explained. “Concrete does.”
Zigan said the use of asphalt and corrugated decking was not a design flaw, but did reflect cost-saving measures utilized by some county engineers.
The Montgomery Road bridge is approximately 22 years old. Henry said the plan now is to replace the entire bridge, down to its abutments, which, if they are still in good enough shape, will be recapped. No corrugated decking will be used for the new bridge, and the support beams and trusses will be galvanized to prevent rust. Henry said concrete would be used for the surface.
Also of concern to Mast is the lack of enforcement of the load limit on the bridge. Day said his department, which does not have access to scales to weigh large trucks, has no way to enforce the load limit.
Mast, who has seen several large trucks that far exceed the weight limit use the bridge, said he is frustrated that the No Thru Trucks sign posted on the village side of the bridge is also apparently not enforced. Day explained that the county posted the sign; the village has not passed any legislation to label the village portion of Montgomery Road as a No Thru Trucks route, and he can not enforce the county legislation.
Mast and the commissioners plan to ask the Fredericktown Village Council to designate the village portion of Montgomery Road as a No Thru Trucks route, until the bridge can be replaced.
Mast believes its important to preserve what structural soundness the bridge has left, in case of medical emergencies. He explained to the commissioners that an eight-ton squad will not be able to travel across the bridge if the weight limit is lowered.
Henry said he believes the large trucks using the bridge are causing it to deteriorate at a faster rate. He sent a letter to the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Patrol last week, asking it to enforce the load limit. OSP Lt. Chad McGinty said he contacted the patrol’s commercial division about possibly bringing portable scales to the area to enforce the load limit.
Henry asked the consulting firm of Burgess and Niple of Columbus to inspect the bridge early this year for its annual inspection.
“This was because of my discussion with Scott Mast, and because of the focus the bridge is getting in the Fredericktown community,” Henry explained.
After the inspection, which happened this week, Henry said it could be weeks before he gets a copy of the inspection report. The report should tell him whether the bridge weight limit needs to be lowered further.
Mast asked the commissioners to post additional No Thru Trucks signs along Montgomery Road at Connector and Old Mansfield roads, so that trucks will avoid turning onto the road and not go as far as the bridge. The commissioners have, in turn, asked Henry to place additional signs.
Because the fire department’s sole concern in the matter is the safety issue, Mast said he is surprised at how slow and complicated the process is for repair or replacement of the bridge.
“We have an obligation and a responsibility to provide the people there with fire protection,” Mast told the commissioners. “This is putting people’s safety at risk.”
