Source: By Michael Fielding, PUBLIC WORKS MAGAZINE, September 1, 2008
Kevin Beachy has been overseeing the bridge replacement program for Alleghany County, Md., since 1985, when the county--located in Maryland's panhandle three hours west of Baltimore--adopted a different approach to rehabilitation and replacement. .........
..........In just two decades, however, the county has cut in half the number of bridges posted at load restrictions (it is at 28%, down from 60%) by contracting out large projects and keeping the smaller, more manageable projects in-house--all without a dedicated bridge crew. Considering that both light and heavy manufacturing equipment as well as coal mining trucks travel the county's 550 miles of roads, that's quite a feat.
