Regional authority asks consultant for prioritized five-year bridge maintenance plan

The Qantas Regional Authority voted unanimously on Dec. 9 to ask consultant Manek and Smith for a prioritized five-year maintenance plan and a cost quote for repairs to trail bridges following a presentation by guest consultant Matt Tomczewski.

Tomczewski summarized a recent Manek and Smith report that lists maintenance needs across the authority’s bridge inventory and cautioned that the report should be treated as a planning baseline rather than an immediate work order. “This is not a plan that shows that we need it today. We just need to start working towards this,” he said, recommending a phased priority list covering the next five to 10 years.

Board members pressed Tomczewski on safety and timing. He said he did not see any issues that presented an immediate public-safety threat but identified replacement of some timber decking and lumber as a near-term priority and steel-structure cleaning and painting as preventive maintenance. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s proposing a threat immediately,” Tomczewski said.

On costs, Tomczewski described typical consultant work for municipalities: inspections every two years, an annual inspection cost in the example cited of roughly $12,000, and a consolidated planning package — which includes bid specification and project coordination — commonly around $50,000. Earlier in the meeting the board referenced a prior, larger estimate of about $22,200,000 to address all bridges; members said they were more likely to pursue prioritized, phased repairs starting with an estimated $250,000 for the highest-priority items.

Several members asked whether to re-bid the work or continue with Manek and Smith, who previously produced the assessment. Tomczewski recommended staying with Manek and Smith because they already had on-site familiarity and could deliver a timely quote and a prioritized list. The board moved, supported and approved a request for Manek and Smith to prepare a prioritized five-year plan and return a quote — members discussed a 30-day target for an initial quote.

The motion passed on roll call with Member Kane, Member Coker, Member Ball and Chair Steele recorded as voting yes. The action directs staff to obtain the consultant’s prioritized list and formal cost estimate; no specific funding source was approved at the meeting.

Next steps: the consultant is expected to supply a prioritized scope and quote for board review at a future meeting; the board discussed spreading work across multiple years to reduce mobilization costs and to pursue available grant funding where appropriate.