PPRTA funding is used by the City of Colorado Springs to plan and perform bridge maintenance activities to the City’s 228 major bridge structures (greater than 20 feet in length) and 231 minor bridge structures (between 4’ and 20’ in length). Since the beginning of PPRTA in 2005, the funding provided by PPRTA for bridge maintenance has been invested to address several types of maintenance efforts as described below. This investment has enabled the City to move its efforts from mostly emergency responses to a deliberate and planned bridge maintenance and preservation efforts. The benefit to the community includes improvements in safety and a reduction in the loss of the use of bridges.
The City has categorized investments made for bridge maintenance to plan and implement efforts in a balanced manner with the intention of funding all categories each year. Each category addresses different types of bridge needs and provides different value to the community.
| Category | Description | Community Value |
|---|---|---|
| Repairs | Addressing bridge issues related to age, damage, and others | Maintains bridges condition |
| Safety | Focused on improving public safety and reduction of risk | Addresses safety issues and risks |
| Rehabilitation | Major improvements and repairs required to obtain or extend the service life of bridges. Examples include deck replacement, bridge rail replacement, and others. | Extends bridge service life and addresses major condition and safety issues |
| Programmed & Preventative | Maintenance activities that can be scheduled or are routine | Extends bridge service life |
| Opportunity | As City maintenance and capital efforts are performed by others, there is opportunity to perform bridge maintenance activities either as part of or during those efforts. | Leverages bridge maintenance funding by lowering costs |
| Emergency | Response to bridge emergencies such as accidents, storm damage, and others | Necessary for public safety |
The following table outlines the financial status of the Bridge Maintenance program, and highlights achievements from the past quarter and upcoming activities:
Program Spend and Completion Status
| Program | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 20242 | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering/ROW | $1,739,822 | $4,841,602 | $4,177,787 | $2,488,987 | $13,248,199 |
| Construction | $4,773,298 | $4,659,525 | $3,781,477 | $5,774,575 | $18,988,875 |
| Reimbursements1 | $(53,029) | $(15,453) | $(111,276) | $- | $(179,758) |
| Program Support | $7,998 | $5,923 | $6,826 | $3,446 | $24,193 |
| Total Spend/Encumbered | $6,468,090 | $9,491,597 | $7,854,814 | $8,267,008 | $32,081,509 |
| Budget | $13,000,000 | ||||
| %Spent/Encumbered | 95% | 98% | 83% | 64% | |
| Percent of Program | |||||
| Engineering/ROW % of Program | 27% | 51% | 53% | 30% | 41% |
| Construction % of Program | 74% | 49% | 48% | 70% | 59% |
| Reimbursements % of Program | -1% | 0% | -1% | 0% | -1% |
| Program Support % of Program | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
- Reimbursements for damages to guardrails.
- 2024 Budget includes $13,000,000 budget allocation.
Projects Completed in Q2 2024 and Continuing Efforts
- Performed or contracted maintenance activities on 9 bridges. These activities were repair, safety, opportunity and preventative maintenance focused.
- Continued engineering activities on 15 bridges.
- Performed enhanced Inspections at 15 structures.
- Contracted guardrail repairs at 3 locations.
- Coordinated with Real Estate, Legal, and Operations & Maintenance.
- Continued Standard Operating Procedures development for Bridge Maintenance.
- Continued update and refinement of 5-Year Bridge Maintenance Plan.
- Continued planning construction and engineering activities on 2024 bridges.
- Continued contract for right-of-way services for bridge maintenance efforts.
- Issued task orders with Bridge Maintenance On-Call construction contractors.
Upcoming projects / activities:
- Execute the 2024 Bridge Maintenance Plan.
- Continue development of Bridge CIP plan information.
- Continue update of 5-Year Bridge Maintenance Plan.