None at this time.
Columbus, OH –As Gov. Mike DeWine and state lawmakers consider a possible gas-tax increase, Ohio’s transportation director warned Tuesday that the state’s road maintenance and infrastructure projects are facing an “impending crisis” unless more money is generated.
Growing statewide coalition of business, local government and transportation industry leaders launch effort
to educate Ohioans on looming transportation funding shortfall
Columbus, OH – Sharply reduced funding for vital improvements to Ohio’s deteriorating roads and bridges presents a major economic and transportation problem according to a statewide coalition advocating for adequate infrastructure spending.
Columbus, Ohio — Among the first orders of business for Gov. Mike DeWine and the 133rd Ohio General Assembly
will be setting a new two-year transportation budget. For a good start, they should consider a plan by a statewide coalition to get a shriveling transportation capital program back on track. Fix Our Roads Ohio, a group including county governments, chambers of commerce, regional planning bodies and transportation organizations, is sounding the alarm: Even as Ohio’s roads, bridges and transit systems become more congested and in need of repair, transportation funding is about to take a dive.
Clinton County —Gary Smith, Engineering Assistant at the Clinton County Engineer’s Office, was awarded the CEAO David Brand Safety Award at the County Commissioners Association of Ohio and County Engineers Association of Ohio Winter Conference in December.
Delaware County — Delaware County Engineer Chris Bauserman, P.E., P.S., and staff received the 2018 County Engineer of the Year award from the County Engineers Association of Ohio (CEAO) during its annual business meeting held Dec. 9-11.
Guernsey County — Based on the results of a grant-funded safety study, new traffic signage has been posted at two intersections in Guernsey County — Ohio Avenue and Corduroy Road, and North Eighth Street Road and Lemon Hill Road.
CINCINNATI -- The state of the region's roads, bridges and public transit sits at the front of Hamilton County voters' minds as the 2018 midterm elections approach, with more than one high-profile race hanging in the balance.
Washington County - Washington County Engineer Roger Wright said rot has set in on the structural members holding the bridge up. Work to repair it will be complex and require craftsmen with specialized skills, he said.
A month ago, he said, a grant application to the federal government was approved, and the work will probably be scheduled in the 2020 fiscal year.
“We were able to get rather good funding,” he said. The federal government through two programs will pay 95 percent of the cost, which Wright estimated to be between $700,000 and $750,000.
Portage County - Last winter may not have seemed particularly harsh to the average Ohio motorist.
But the high number of small “snow events,” each requiring salt, plus the high number of days when temperatures fell below freezing and rose above freezing in a single day, took a toll on salt supplies, as well as the condition of pavement.
YOUNGSTOWN - Mahoning and Trumbull counties and several municipalities are competing for more than $11 million in Ohio Public Works Commission grant and loan funding for infrastructure projects in 2019.
Applications are currently being accepted for the annual Cliff Lovin Scholarship for a geography or engineering student attending school in the State of Ohio. Woolpert generously established this scholarship to support the geospatial industry by helping students in furthering their education in the field.
The scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate student with a major in geography or engineering who is currently enrolled at an Ohio university. Applications and an official transcript are due by September 1, 2018, and the recipient will be announced during the 2018 Ohio GIS Conference, September 24-26, in Columbus, Ohio.
For application information, please see the links below:
CEAO’s Board of Directors has established a scholarship program for Civil Engineering and/or Surveying students attending school in the State of Ohio. The intent of the Board is to increase awareness of the County Engineering profession and to encourage students and current county employees to become registered both as a Professional Engineer and as a Professional Surveyor.
Scholarships will be awarded to Civil Engineering and Surveying students at the Junior and Senior level of a Bachelors program and to current county employees who are interested in working toward their dual registration.
The 2018 Scholarship Application should be submitted directly to the CEAO office; selections will be made by the CEAO Scholarship Committee. Official transcripts from any college level courses you have completed must be included. Please return the completed application along with your supporting documentation by June 15, 2018 to:
County Engineers Association of Ohio
Attention: Scholarship Committee
6500 Busch Blvd. Suite 100
Columbus, OH 43229-1738
WINESBURG — A project that caused plenty of grumbling and complaining prior to its completion has proven to be an extremely successful undertaking.
The Holmes County Road 160 intersection project has been selected as the winner of the 2018 Outstanding Highway Project Award by the Cuyahoga Valley Section of the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) in the under $5 million category.
Mount Vernon - The field of engineering is intricately woven into the fabric of our everyday lives.
"If you think about it, anything and everything you think of at some point in time probably had an engineer involved in it," Knox County Engineer Cameron Keaton told the news.
Ohio has some of the most structurally deficient bridges in the U.S., according to a new report.
The American Road and Transportation Builders Association released an analysis on Monday that shows Ohio has the 12th-highest number of structurally deficient bridges in the country.
Starting next year Summit County residents will pay $5 more to register each of their motor vehicles.
The most severe winter weather in recent years also has produced more potholes on Clark County roads.
“Some counties are saying the potholes are worse this year,” Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Mandi Dillon said in a statement.
A new report by Energy In Depth and the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) finds that oil and gas operators have paid more than $302.6 million for road, bridge and culvert improvements via the Road Use Maintenance Agreement (RUMA), which is an agreement between operators and counties to ensure road damages by heavy equipment being moved for shale drilling and pipeline work are either prevented or repaired.
Potholes have begun to devour many Mahoning County roads, and with wildly varying temperatures, county Engineer Pat Ginnetti said it’s likely to get worse.
“These roads are falling apart,” Ginnetti said.
Summit County Council took another step toward approving a new fee by holding a public hearing on the proposal at its Jan. 22 meeting.
Summit County Engineer Alan Brubaker proposed a $5 license fee last year to help pay for road and bridge repairs. The public hearing was a necessary procedural step in enacting the new fee.
ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane and other senior staff made several trips to the White House this week to discuss the Trump administration’s infrastructure package and regulatory reform efforts. Paul Gruner, Montgomery County Engineer in Dayton, Ohio, represented ARTBA at a White House briefing on the administration’s infrastructure package.
LISBON — The county fairgrounds can now boast two historical bridges, and the same man was behind both projects that were 45 years apart.
The first of two parallel pipelines running through Richland County is completely constructed, but the second could be delayed by federal order.
The Butler County Engineer’s Office says its roundabouts are even safer than the national average as far as preventing crashes.
VIENNA, Ohio (WKBN) – The Trumbull County Engineer’s Office is trying out a new process when it comes to chip sealing roads — using recycled asphalt grindings from paving projects in other parts of the county.
Cornell Robertson has been named Franklin County’s acting engineer.
Athens County has an enormous number of bridges, 335 to be exact, that may well be among the most for a county in Ohio, if not the most. But with increased expenses and decreased funding, it’s near impossible to get ahead of the game when addressing damaged bridges, Athens County Engineer Jeff Maiden explained last week.
LISBON –The county engineer’s office will be resurfacing fewer miles of roads this year because more of the effort will focus on asphalt, which is much costlier than chip/seal.
Wood County's commissioners will likely discuss seeking an additional $5 license-plate fee that could generate nearly $750,000 per year for road and bridge work.
Lucas County Engineer Keith Earley made a plea to the county commissioners Tuesday for increased vehicle registration fees to fund the rising costs of construction for area roads and bridges.
DELAWARE — Widening roads to ease congestion is necessary in growing communities. But engineers and public officials face challenges when railroad crossings are in the way. Do they widen around the tracks? Build a bridge over them? Or create a trench underneath?
Franklin County’s long-time engineer is retiring — and recommending his replacement.
Dean Ringle, 60, has been the county’s elected engineer for 17 years but has worked for the Engineer’s Office for 36 years. “I know I look younger than that,” Ringle joked.
Dean Ringle is resigning from the Franklin County Engineer's Office after 36 years of employment there, including the last 17 leading it. He'll leave next month to become executive director for the County Engineers Association of Ohio.
Ron Sharrett, the longtime engineer of Vinton County, has announced he will retire next month.
Not for prom or even graduation. And certainly not Christmas. No, it’s the time of year when the Huron County Engineer’s Office and Highway Department is busy with multiple projects.
YOUNGSTOWN — Raising taxes and fees is never popular, but more money is needed to properly maintain road infrastructure, Mahoning County County Engineer Patrick Ginnetti told the county commissioners today.
MILLERSBURG — Holmes County Engineer Chris Young has released the details of the 2017 Paving Plan, the first such paving plan that will incorporate revenue from a five-year 0.25 percent road sales tax approved by Holmes County voters in November 2016.
BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio — A proposed license plate fee hike was addressed during the Belmont County Commission meeting on Wednesday morning.
The Portage County Engineer's staff is ready for more snow.
MIAMI COUNTY — While students are dreaming of the first snow day, county crews are preparing their trucks, mounting plows and salters, and, while Santa has been getting ready to stuff stockings with toys, the Highway Department has been busy stuffing the salt storage barn to the rafters with rock salt.
A county supervisors' group is proposing raising the state gas tax to pay for repairs to Mississippi's aging roads and bridges, but lawmakers say there may not be the political will to increase fuel taxes.
SPRINGFIELD —Traffic crews in Clark and Champaign counties have prepared salt trucks as winter weather is expected to approach the area over the next few days and weeks.
Although construction likely will not start for at least a few more years, plans to build a roundabout adjacent to Berlin Township's fire station moved forward last week.
The Hancock County Engineer’s Office has filled the salt building off Lima Avenue and completed maintenance on county trucks, as employees prepare for winter and keeping 362 miles of county roads drivable during the snowy months, county Engineer Chris Long reports.
A federal wrongful death lawsuit remains pending against the Athens County Engineer over road maintenance work on Dutch Creek Road that the litigants say poses a mortal threat to a resident with chemical sensitivity. Each side recently filed updated complaints or answers in the case.
After seeing and hearing some of the advertising in the recent county commissioner's race, I would like to clarify some issues. The sitting commissioners, in support of the challenger, made an issue of the Road and Bridge Department's carryover balance as though it were a negative issue. Our end of the year 2015 carryover was $1.4 million; the Commissioners' General Fund end of year 2015 carryover was $5.1 million.
Seneca County departments are making annual preparations for snowfall and residents should too.
The messaging app Snapchat allows motorists to post photos that record the speed of the vehicle. The navigation app Waze rewards drivers with points when they report traffic jams and accidents. Even the game Pokémon Go has drivers searching for virtual creatures on the nation’s highways.
BUTLER COUNTY - Several Butler County communities will be spending $200,000 or more each for road salt this winter and have already stockpiled thousands of tons of salt in preparation for the upcoming winter.
COLUMBUS - CEAO Executive Director Fredrick Pausch testified today before the Joint Legislative Task Force on Department of Transportation Issues.
Delaware County officials began discussing a new route between the county's southern border and the city of Delaware in the late 1980s.
WOODSFIELD – The Foraker Covered Bridge in Monroe County just received a $215,000 makeover that should keep the historic structure functioning for many more years.
WOODSFIELD — Economic activity in Monroe County is picking up as oil and gas exploration firms seek new land lease/royalty agreements for drilling.
DELAWARE — Stone Mill bridge, a century old, was being repaired almost annually in recent years, allowing motorists to cross the Olentangy River north of the city.
A Warren County transportation board is planning to finance $18 million to speed up completion of road projects around a Proctor & Gamble expansion expected to bring 1,300 jobs to the county.
From the front seat of his Dodge pickup truck, Steve Greene surveys the local roads in Jewell County, Kansas. There are 1,500 miles of county-maintained roads in this north-central Kansas county, where Greene serves as chairman of the county commission. Only 15 miles are paved; 700 miles are rock or gravel. The rest are minimum-maintenance dirt roads, many of which have outdated bridges and are pocked with ruts.
[Surber's] staff has been cut and his funding is nowhere near where it once was, but he continues to do a magnificent job for the county by finding alternative ways to get the job done.
Nothing is certain when it comes to local revenues that run through the state coffers, county officials have learned.
The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission in September will complete its first bridge inspection using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), or drone.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Area bridges are literally falling apart in the Miami valley.
The developer of the 4,500 home Union Village planned community is balking at a condition sought by Warren County spelling out who will pay for more than $50 million in road improvements around the development.
BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio — When oil and gas companies sign agreements on county roads, they're held to their end of the bargain. And county leaders keep a close eye on the projects.
Project ready to proceed in Hardin County, but Logan County piece hinges on PILOT
By Jim Surber, I was struck by a recent headline that seemed radically different from normal. A pronouncement from Warren Buffett in his annual letter to Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders reads in part: "It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve).”
Chris Mullins crawled along the temporary catwalk and peered up at the bottom of the 104-year-old Florence Bridge. He saw only daylight in places where there should have been iron.
The family of a Lake Township schoolteacher critically injured when a rock was dropped on their car from an overpass has helped push through new state rules to limit the chances such a tragedy could happen to someone else.
Ohio ranks #5 in Structurally Deficient or Functionally Obsolete bridges at 6,647 (24.6%) and 5,300 are county bridges.
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An analysis of the recently-released 2014 U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) National Bridge Inventory database finds good news and bad news when it comes to the most heavily traveled U.S. bridges. The good news is that there are 162 fewer structurally deficient structures in Ohio than there were in 2013. The bad news is that it means 61,000 structurally deficient bridges across the nation are still in need of significant repair. And it is a problem that hits close to home.
Each year, I hope that the decisions I make in the legislature help to improve the lives of my constituents, create jobs in my community, and keep Ohio safe, healthy, thriving and economically sound. Though I wish that Ohio had a blank check and unlimited money to invest in the programs that our state needs, that just isn't reality; we have to carefully consider where we invest our limited dollars. After a father of four was tragically killed last month when a bridge collapsed in Cincinnati, it's very clear to me that investing in transportation and infrastructure needs to be a priority at both the state and federal levels.
In these times of tight budgets and aging infrastructure, Ohio's Muskingum County has adopted a creative sustainable practice for the replacement of structurally deficient and fuctionally obsolete short span bridges- recycling steel bridge beams.
Ohio kicked off its construction season last year with transportation officials boasting that it would be the largest in the state’s history.
With federal highway funding stalled, states are looking for different ways to keep roadways safe and in good repair. For Ohio Public Radio, WVXU’s Tana Weingartner reports that Hamilton County is adding a full-time Weights & Inspections Unit, one of fewer than 30 counties statewide to do so.
Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor joined other state and local officials Monday in Lafayette Township to unveil an $8.4 million program that will rebuild bridges in Medina and Lorain counties.
The Ohio Bridge Partnership program provides $120 million for the repair or replacement of more than 200 bridges statewide deemed “structurally deficient.”
State Senator Larry Obhof (R–Medina) joined State Representative Mark Romanchuk (R–Ontario) and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor on Monday to announce bridge improvement projects in Richland County that will be undertaken as part of a new initiative between the Ohio Department of Transportation and local governments.
Public safety in Ohio received a much needed boost recently when the Ohio Department of Transportation announced it has formed a $120 million partnership with counties and cities in the state to repair or replace 220 structurally deficient bridges over the next three years.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has launched a new partnership with cities and counties that will fully fund the repair or replacement of locally owned bridges. Aptly named Ohio’s Bridge Partnership, the first-of-its-kind initiative will invest $120 million in local bridges over the next three years. More than 200 county and city bridges are expected to be repaired or replaced with work beginning on 40 of them as early as spring 2014. This is really a big deal. The initiative is important for several reasons. Let’s take a look.
LISBON — The county fairgrounds can now boast two historical bridges, and the same man was behind both projects that were 45 years apart.
The first of two parallel pipelines running through Richland County is completely constructed, but the second could be delayed by federal order.
The Butler County Engineer’s Office says its roundabouts are even safer than the national average as far as preventing crashes.
VIENNA, Ohio (WKBN) – The Trumbull County Engineer’s Office is trying out a new process when it comes to chip sealing roads — using recycled asphalt grindings from paving projects in other parts of the county.
When the 21st century reaches its half-way point, projected is a U.S. population of 400 million people; that’s up from the 300 million mark reached in late 2006, early 2007, if memory serves me well.
This year, the Ohio Department of Transportation launched a partnership with counties and cities to fully fund the replacement or repair of locally-owned bridges.
Infrastructure investment seems to be a recurring political theme without a definitive solution. Roads and bridges across the country are in sore need of maintenance, but investment hasn’t kept up with that need. States have been left to seek creative ways to earn money, and roadway sponsorships are one piece of Ohio’s strategy.
Ohio’s $120-million Local Bridge Partnership Program is adding ten bridges to a program that is already fixing or replacing 220 bridges in local communities throughout the state.
DAYTON, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Transportation says that more than 2,200 bridges are structurally deficient statewide — but there isn’t enough money to fix them.
The Dayton Daily News reports that DOT records listed 2,230 structurally deficient bridges, but officials say lack of funding makes it difficult to keep up with repairs.
Ohio Department of Transportation records indicate that 2,230 bridges statewide are rated as structurally deficient, but government agencies say they lack the funds to keep up on repairs.
“There’s not enough money to stay ahead of it,” Montgomery County Engineer Paul Gruner said. “The more we let them go, the more it costs to replace them, and we need more money to be able to replace them.”
