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Orange County moves to emergency repairs after bridge inspection finds critical damage
Summary
County highway officials told commissioners that one bridge requires emergency riprap within 30 days and accelerated replacement within 3–6 months; commissioners approved ordering an aluminum box culvert (quoted at $69,840) and a $100,000 appropriation to fund emergency work and related materials.
County highway officials told the Orange County Board of Commissioners that a routine countywide bridge inspection found two critical bridge issues and recommended immediate action for one structure they called Bridge 16.
"There are some emergency steps that we can take to buy some time, but it is due for an accelerated replacement in the next 3 to 6 months," the highway superintendent said. He added that the county "actually have to do some emergency riprapping within the next 30 days to keep it open."
The superintendent recommended buying an aluminum box culvert from the county nnual bid (E3 Bridge) at a price of $69,840 and asked for emergency verbal permission to order it because lead time is 10–12 weeks. He estimated a total appropriation request of $100,000 to cover the box, backfill and concrete work, saying he might not use the full amount.
Commissioners discussed alternatives but accepted the superintendent's practicality argument that the aluminum box would be more cost-effective than rebuilding a new bridge and that the box would remove the structure from the county's bridge inspection inventory. One commissioner said he was "not in favor of wasting money on Band-Aid" fixes but recognized the urgency. The board moved to approve the superintendent's recommendation; the motion passed unanimously.
The highway office also reported other inspection findings and routine maintenance: culvert installations across Districts 1', and an EPA/inspection-driven repair timeline for Bridge 23 that can be handled by in-house underpinning work. The superintendent told commissioners that failure to perform the required riprap would likely lead to state closure of the affected bridge.
Next steps: the highway office will place the order for the aluminum box (long lead time), begin emergency riprap and backfill operations within the next 30 days, and return with exact cost updates after procurement and initial work are underway.
