Commissioners approve $412,644 HSIP contract to install safer bridge guardrail ends

Adams County commissioners on a 2-0 vote approved a $412,644 contract under the Highway Safety Improvement Program to install or upgrade crashworthy guardrail impact ends on county bridges.

The measure, presented by County Engineer Nate, directs county staff to execute the county's Local Public Agency consultant agreement tied to a larger state safety grant. Nate said the HSIP grant the county received this past summer totals roughly $2.6 million and that the approved contract covers the first phase of work on the most urgent locations.

Nate said the contractor work covered by the contract will reengineer bridge guardrail terminations—called impact ends—to arrest and slow vehicles that run off the road. He said the project list originally included about 50 bridges but that right-of-way limitations could reduce the count to 49 in practice. "So we'll say 49 for now," Nate said.

Nate told commissioners the contract price rose to about $412,644 because the scope requires digging posts and additional utility coordination at many locations. He said some installed devices could be reused if a bridge is later replaced, but that wear and engineering changes over decades could require replacement.

Nate said the county has submitted the revised contract to the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) for review; INDOT recommended approval and will later execute a parallel reimbursement agreement with Adams County. The board voted 2-0 to approve the contract and authorized staff to sign the paperwork.

The motion to approve passed with two commissioners present; the contract is phase one of the larger HSIP-funded effort, and further agreements and reimbursement paperwork will follow as INDOT and county staff finalize the arrangements.