Skamania County approves supplemental agreement for high‑cost bridge inspections

Skamania County commissioners voted to approve Supplemental Agreement No. 2 with Pickett Structural Solutions to finish high‑cost inspections on six bridges in the county.

The supplemental agreement covers additional inspection work on a set of bridges that was not completed in the previous contract period. County staff said the work is being paid for with grant funding and will allow the county to apply for bridge replacement funding where the inspections show that to be necessary.

Why it matters: high‑cost bridge inspections produce the documentation engineers and grant programs require to place a structure on replacement lists and to qualify for state bridge funding. County staff said one bridge inspected last year showed more issues than earlier reports, prompting annual follow‑up inspections for that structure and a push to finish the outstanding work for all six bridges.

Board discussion focused on timing and whether the supplemental work represented new inspections or simply completion of work already started. Public works staff said the inspections are primarily carry‑over work from the prior year and not an expanded scope beyond finalizing work on the listed bridges. Two of the bridges are in partnership with nearby cities (the city of Stevenson and the city of North Bonneville), county staff said.

The board made and seconded a motion to approve the supplemental agreement and voted to approve it without recorded opposition.

What’s next: County staff said inspection results will inform applications for bridge replacement funding in future cycles; the county expects to include the worst‑condition bridge in its 2026 funding request.