New Bridge Project Primarily Funded By Fed And State

By John Voket

When it comes to replacing an “functionally obsolete” bridge near the intersection of Walnut Tree Hill and Glen Roads, Public Works Director Fred Hurley is looking at a win-win situation. Not only will the town be getting a finished product with top-of-the-line engineering, it will be mostly paid for from state and federal allocations.

The bridge replacement, and other collateral benefits like the intersection realignment that will likely be included in the overall development, represents the Highway Department’s next step in a 25-year capital improvement program that has seen several other bridges replaced on the town’s dime. Whenever possible, however, officials work to seek a cost-effective formula in balancing the acceptance of outside funding for these very expensive improvements.

According to Mr Hurley, there is a break-even point beyond which it is not practical to collaborate with state or federal transportation agencies.

“Most reimbursement benefits are relatively low,” he explained. “As a result, it doesn’t make sense to incur the administrative expense tied to projects partially funded by most state or federal programs. It makes the finished product more expensive than if we do it ourselves.”

Mr Hurley said the 30 percent town contribution for the replacement of this particular bridge — DOT bridge #05028 — makes good financial sense for Newtown. In this case, if Newtown’s contribution was significantly greater, the project would end up being scaled back to whatever Mr Hurley could budget to handle the entire replacement in house.

“The state and federal specifications for this particular bridge replacement covers everything from soup to nuts,” he said. “The town will end up getting a project valued at half- to three-quarters of a million dollars. If we had to replace the bridge ourselves without the extensive engineering and roadwork the state and federal guidelines demand, the project expenditures would be more like $100,000–$150,000.”

That is not to say the project would be less safe or compromised. Mr Hurley and his staff pride themselves on doing premium work on a very modest budget, thanks to the level of talent in his department.

“Using our in-house staff as much as we do can save the town hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “And we bring the highest level of expertise to the job. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had public works people from other towns come through asking how we accomplish everything we do on our budget.”

Mr Hurley pointed out that using competitively-priced consultants in strategic instances actually saves the town even more money.

“It’s not that our department can’t carry all the engineering responsibilities,” he said. “It’s simply a case where there is just too much to do between scheduled capital projects and our day-to-day responsibilities.”

For this reason, the Highway Department works very closely with key engineering consultants when necessary, striking a fine but economical balance between in-house and outside services.

“We demand that our consultants work very closely with our staff so we can closely manage that relationship and the project,” Mr Hurley said. “Even when we’re working without a grant, it’s the most effective use of our manpower.”

By using consulting staff as major projects ramp up, and plugging them in to particular duties, Mr Hurley estimates the practice has saved the town from having to add two or three permanent full-time staff members, with the salaries and benefits that come with.

Apparently, there is also a talent for finding the right consultant at the right price.

“During the last process of selecting a consultant, we had four candidates whose qualifications were virtually the same. But the one that was chosen was half the cost of the other three,” he said.

In dollars and cents, Mr Hurley estimated that particular project cost taxpayers about $175,000 using a combination of in-house and consulting staff. If the entire project used consulting or outside personnel exclusively, it would have cost $300,000–$400,000 or more.

“With the consultants doing a lot of the time-consuming minutia, we still get the engineering standards we want, and it frees up our staff people to do so much more with the time they might have otherwise spent tied up in the small stuff,” he said.

In the case of the Walnut Tree Hill Road bridge, it was a consultant who identified the project as being a likely candidate for significant federal funding. Mr Hurley said the opportunity came to light during routine advanced engineering studies on bridges and roads slated for capital improvements.

“The consultant identified the project based on work he had done on similar locations in other communities. And working through the regional planning agency, we put in an application for the most federal funding we could qualify for and it was approved,” he said.

“This bridge is important because it carries a lot of commuter traffic, it’s very heavily traveled,” Mr Hurley said. “This structure is really what we would call ‘functionally obsolete,’ and with the age and condition, we want to be more proactive than reactive when it comes to upgrading.”

It is the Highway Department’s goal to have all the bridges in town replaced as part of a 25-year capital road plan that was instituted in 1989. And with ten years to go, Mr Hurley is satisfied with the progress the town is making.

“It’s not just bridges,” he said. “We’re talking about roads and drainage culverts as well. And with about 40 percent of these projects remaining to be completed, I’m pretty happy with the progress. We’re not too far off our projected goal.”

And like any municipal initiative, the goal is only as achievable as the underwriting sources. So the Highway Department plans to continue looking for every opportunity to combine outside funding with outsourced staff to meet their 2015 goal.

“We’ll keep tackling the jobs as they become economically feasible going forward,” Mr Hurley said. “With as many miles of roads we have, we have to target the work to where we can get the most value for every dollar. You do the best you can with what you have. We’re just extremely lucky to have some of the best resources of any town in the region!”