Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Whitman County Public Works Department has begun a process to create a full inventory of thousands of metal culverts which cross under roads in the county.
The existing list goes back to the late 80s, with inconsistent records before.
As of now, district supervisors for county roads check culverts informally, while the new effort will lead to assigning a number to each galvanized steel pipe, from zero to nine, nine being top condition.
Depending on rating, the pipes will then be checked every two to five years.
“They’ll go 30-40 years with no visible change, then you’ll see rust or degradation of the steel,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director.
Culverts assigned a number would be four feet or larger.
The effort to formalize inspections began after a nine-foot culvert partially collapsed under Clear Creek Road three years ago, then a three-footer under Carothers Road.
“When those failed, it brought it more into focus,” Storey said. No one was injured in either incident, which led to emergency replacements.
Were the Clear Creek and Carothers Road culverts inspected before they faltered?
“I’d have to ask the supervisor what they knew; I don’t know if they knew it was failing in advance or not,” Storey said.
The assigned zero to nine numbers will also help the department to prioritize which culverts should be replaced, in what order.
“If something is getting real close to failure, we can watch it better,” Storey said.
Once the full slate of culverts – pre-late ‘80s included – is inventoried for size, location and age, then Public Works will begin inspection cycles, to be undertaken by county bridge inspectors.
Culvert inventory may take two years or more as the work is done in the background of other projects.
Storey suggested Public Works may hire a summer engineering intern to help with this.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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