The bridges of Cedar County

HARTINGTON – The time of year has arrived to talk about bridge inspections in Cedar County.

County Highway Superintendent Carla Schmidt told the board of commissioners on Feb. 13 the county currently has 230 total bridges that undergo inspections.

“Out of those 230, 209 of them are routine inspections, which are just a normal inspection,” Schmidt said. “Three of them are special inspections, which cost a little bit more and they have to be inspected annually instead of every 24 months.”

The county also has 18 fracture critical bridges, which are required to be inspected every two years. “Fracture critical” is a classification for members – bridge parts such as girders, beams and piers, for example – of structures that are steel, have a higher risk of cracking and are non-redundant, as the failure of a fracture critical member may lead to a progressive failure of the entire structure.

“Nine of them are fracture critical trusses and nine of them are girder floor-beam fracture critical,” Schmidt said of those 18 bridges. “It’d be really nice to get rid of the fracture criticals, but we all know that that’s not happening because every one of those is going to cost us well over a million dollars, if not two (million), to get rid of those.”

Schmidt broke down the current number and type of bridge inspection for each of the county’s three commissioner districts: - District 1, represented by Commissioner Dick Donner, has 54 routine inspections, two special inspections and eight inspections for fracture critical bridges.

- District 2, represented by Commissioner Craig Bartels, has 74 routine inspections, one special inspection and four inspections for fracture critical bridges.

- District 3, represented by Board Chairman Dave McGregor, has 81 routine inspections and six inspections for fracture critical bridges.

“You know that bridges are supposed to be inspected every 24 months,” Schmidt said. “In 2020, there was a total of 104 routines and no fracture criticals. In 2021, we had 108 routines and we had 21 fracture criticals. In 2022, we had 108 routines and no fracture criticals. In 2023 last year, we had 93 routines and 20 fracture criticals.”

She noted the total number of county crossings that will be inspected in 2024 is 71, which covers 62 bridges, eight culverts and one special inspection.

“This year, we’ll have $10,000 worth of bridge inspections,” Schmidt said. “That means next year, those fracture criticals come due again. If you look at the price of what those fracture criticals cost to inspect – a regular bridge costs $147 to inspect – a fracture critical bridge, if it’s a truss bridge, costs $1,800 to $1,900 a bridge, and if it’s a floor-beam (bridge), it costs $900.”

She noted some of the criteria has changed for bridge inspections as well.

“Some bridges only have to be inspected every 48 months now,” Schmidt said. “That’s why our number’s only 71 this year – because 30-some of what was supposed to be inspected are now on the 48-month inspection. We have 53 total that are on the 48-month inspection now.”

She described herself as “very comfortable” with Mainelli Wagner & Associates Inc., Lincoln, continuing as the county’s bridge inspector.

“We’ve worked with them for years,” Schmidt said, noting she has gotten prices for bridge inspections from other engineering companies in the past, but “we always go back to Mainelli’s.”