Michigan Receives Federal Grant to Expand MDOT Bridge Consolidation Program

LANSING, Mich. (WLUC) – Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has received nearly $ 978,000 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to expand the bridge consolidation efforts of the Status on local agency routes.

“Investing in infrastructure creates well-paying jobs, supports working families and communities and advances our economy,” said Governor Whitmer. “I am grateful for the support of our federal partners who recognize Michigan’s potential to lead in this space. This critical investment will create jobs and work in tandem with our Michigan Economic Startup Plan to ensure we continue our economic return as the pandemic emerges. Michigan can become a national leader in infrastructure. Let’s fix these goddamn roads together.

“We need to rebuild our economy better than ever,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement announcing the subsidies. “These grants support new, innovative and cost-effective approaches to delivering safe, high-quality transportation projects for the American people.”

On May 26, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the United States Department of Transportation announced more than $ 5.6 million in accelerated innovative deployment (AID) demonstration program grants to seven states. The AID demonstration program helps states implement innovative practices. This grant was one of only seven awarded nationally.

The MDOT expects the Bridge Consolidation, which covers multiple bridge construction projects under one contract, to streamline coordination and authorization, increase economies of scale and improve conditions for bridges on local roads. around the state. The program bundles or “bundles” multiple bridges into a single contract using criteria such as proximity, environmental factors, type of work, required external coordination or complexity. MDOT is working to extend the approach, already used on state trunk line projects, to deal with locally owned bridges.

“This grant from AID to advance our local agency bridge consolidation project represents a national validation of our approach,” said Matt Chynoweth, chief bridge engineer at MDOT. “MDOT is concerned with the safety and suitability of not only mainline bridges, but all of those structures used by the public in Michigan.

By combining multiple contracts into one, bundling bridges allows one contractor, or a group of contractors, to work on all of the bridges, Chynoweth explained. This can allow taxpayers to save money by sharing equipment and mobilization costs.

A key part of the bridge consolidation plan: Governor Gretchen Whitmer presented a plan to allocate $ 300 million as part of her executive budget recommendation to expand the state’s bridge consolidation program to repair or replace hundreds of additional local bridges that are closed or in critical condition.

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