Warren County Has Eight Bridges Considered Deficient

Warren County continues to have eight bridges considered structurally deficient, the same number found in a previous inspection performed in 2010 by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).

Since 2010, the Bernheimer Road bridge was upgraded while a bridge located on Lost Creek Road was added to the deficient list.

The county finished construction of a new bridge on Bernheimer Road last year to replace a structure built in 1902.

The eight bridges on the 2012 deficient list are: North Rock Church Road, Morsey Road, Godt Road, Canelos Farm Road, Bluff Road, Schomberg Road, Trembley Road and Lost Creek Road.

MoDOT inspects county-maintained bridges every two years.

Skip Wilson, a MoDOT bridge inspection engineer, said the bridges were inspected in February and March.

He complimented county officials for having so few bridges considered deficient. He said that is not the case in many other counties within MoDOT’s Northeast District.

“That is certainly something to be proud of here in the county,” Wilson said. “Gary (Ruether, county road department supervisor) and his crew and this commission and other commissions have done a fabulous job of replacing the deficient bridges in the county.”

The bridge in the poorest condition in the county is on North Rock Church Road, located a few miles north of Warrenton. The bridge was built in 1910 and spans Big Creek. It’s sufficiency rating was 18.8 percent.

A bridge on Morsey Road has a sufficiency rating of 18.8 percent, the second-worst of the eight bridges on the deficient list. The bridge on Lost Creek Road, which actually is a concrete slab, has the best rating at 49.4 percent.

County commissioners were glad to hear positive remarks about the county’s bridges.

“Citizens have safe bridges to travel on and they should be functional for many years to come,” Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson said.

Commissioners said plans are under way to replace a bridge on Powerline Road this year. The new bridge will alleviate flooding concerns, they added.

No other projects related to bridges have been scheduled.