Cincinnati releases 2007 bridge report

The City of Cincinnati's bridges are rated better than satisfactory, according to the City's 2007 Annual Bridge Condition Report released last week.

The report, which is compiled by the City's Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) as required by Ohio law, provides safety ratings for City-maintained bridges and the status of all bridges either under construction or due to begin construction within the coming year.

For this year's report, DOTE inspected a total of 228 bridges, including the 89 City and county bridges it maintains.

The City's bridges received a weighted average* of 7.16 on a scale from 0 (failed) to 9 (excellent), higher than the program's goal of 6 and higher than the county figure of 5.98.

The weighted average for City bridges has increased from 5.61 in 1988 and has been consistently over 7 since 2001, when the bridges of the Fort Washington Way project were added into the equation.

Only five bridges were rated below 5 (fair) condition:

* Eighth Street Viaduct (3): Scheduled for rehabilitation starting this year
* Waldvogel Viaduct (4): Scheduled for replacement starting in 2010, DOTE has secured $42 million of the $69 million project cost
* Western Hills Viaduct (4): Likely to cost in excess of $100 million, DOTE is working to have this included in the Brent Spence Bridge project, scheduled for 2015
* Kennedy Avenue Bridge over Conrail (4): No plans
* Marburg Avenue Bridge over N&W Railroad (4): No plans

Twenty years ago, the Smale Commission Report on local infrustructure recommended, in 1988 dollars, an annual City investment of $1 million in operating funds and $2.8 million in capital funds to maintain a bridge deck area of approximately 1 million square feet.

Because the bridges have been substantially above the minimum rating of 6, DOTE has cut these funding requests to $171,000 and $1.1 million, respectively.

However, Dohoney reports in a memo to City Council that funding needs will continue to increase as the Fort Washington Way and Central Riverfront Street Grid bridges continue to age.

The complete report, which includes the inspection reports for all 228 inspected bridges, is available for public review in the Clerk of Council's office.

* In the calculations, larger bridges receive more importance than smaller bridges.