DOTD urges Avoyelles Police Jury to maintain bridges

 

By Raymond L. Daye
Co-Editor
 
With the frequency of mandated state and local bridge inspections, “we should never have to close a bridge,” a DOTD official told Avoyelles Parish police jurors in an “informational meeting” March 25.
 
Rhett Desselle, DOTD District 8 assistant director of operations, said the state bridge inspectors finished their work in Avoyelles earlier that day and would be moving on to another parish. They closed six parish bridges during the several weeks they were doing inspections here.
 
Desselle said the state inspects all “off-system bridges” in odd-numbered years and inspects the state bridges in even-numbered years. “Off-system” refers to bridges owned by the parish, municipality or another agency other than DOTD.
 
“The intent of the bridge inspection program is to ensure the safety of the public,” Desselle said. If there is a deficiency that would pose a threat to the public, the state must close the bridge. The parish is notified of the decision and “must physically close the bridge immediately.”
 
Police jurors attending the informal informational meeting seemed to accept responsibility for the bridge closures and understood that DOTD did what had to be done in those cases.
 
Juror Jim Guillory asked Desselle if there might be some leeway in closing a bridge that would give the jury time to notify residents affected by the closure -- such as occurred with the Chuck Davis Road bridge in the Spring Bayou area.
 
“I will only say that the federal standards say to close the bridge ‘immediately,'" Desselle said. “Also, that bridge did not get in that condition overnight. The piles were in trouble when we inspected the bridge four years ago and continued to deteriorate. It should have been resolved before we had to close it.”
 
Jurors acknowledged the parish’s responsibility to make necessary and timely repairs.
 
Police Jury President Charles Jones said the parish “is struggling, financially” and also needs the state to offer training necessary to certify two or three more employees to conduct the interim bridge inspections required by the state every six or 12 months -- depending on the type of bridge.
 
Desselle said the parish “should use these inspection reports to identify and repair bridges before they get to the point where we have to close a bridge.” He said it does not appear that the parish is making appropriate use of the state inspection reports to schedule needed repairs or to prioritize those needs.
 
Desselle said the National Bridge Inspection Standards are handed down by the Federal Highway Administration. They apply to all bridges that go over a body of water, a railroad or another highway and are more than 20 feet in length. He said Avoyelles has 97 off-system bridges. Of that number, 48 are timber and nine are box or pipe culverts that are over 20 feet long.
 
The state does not close a bridge unless there is an identified safety reason, he said.
 
“When a bridge is closed, it’s serious,” Desselle said. “It affects people, it affects the economy. We want it open as soon as possible.”
 
When a parish bridge is closed, the parish must close the bridge immediately and then notify DOTD. If DOTD has not received notice within 14 days, the parish would be placed in non-compliance and would not be eligible for federal bridge repair/replacement funds in the future.
 
If the parish sends a timely notice to DOTD, but it is discovered that the bridge was not closed as ordered, the parish would be in non-compliance and barred from the federal grant program.
 
Desselle pointed out that the parish is currently on “probationary compliance” for falling short of some less-serious timelines. If those shortcomings are not addressed, it could lose eligibility for the federal funds.
 
The “Off-System Bridge Program,” which allowed the parish to receive approximately $2 million this year, is the largest of those programs for the parish.
 
Jones assured Desselle that all bridge information would be updated and all reports filed timely.
 
Desselle said the state is hoping to have a revised/upgraded version of the bridge inspector certification training program available by August.
Jones said if the state needs a “guinea pig” for the new course before then, Avoyelles is willing to volunteer.