January 13, 2023 (Lincoln, Neb.) — Today, the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) announced 13 proposals have been selected for funding in the seventh round of the County Bridge Match Program (CBMP). The program was created as a result of the 2016 Transportation Innovation Act (TIA), signed into law by Governor Pete Ricketts in April of 2016.
“Since the passage of the Transportation Innovation Act, the Department of Transportation has worked with our partners to develop and implement a program that encourages innovation and improves the overall transportation system,” said NDOT Interim Director Moe Jamshidi. Noting that “the program has been a great success. Through partnerships with counties and groups like NACO and NACE, we’ve been able to collectively address some of our state’s issues with rural bridge access.”
The CBMP provides funding to counties for the innovative replacement and repair of deficient county bridges. The seventh Request for Proposals (RFP) was announced in October, with $5 million to be distributed to counties across Nebraska. Proposals were submitted by 43 counties and included 148 bridges.
“The County Bridge Match Program has continued to make an impact in local communities by investing in bridges that, although small or rural, really matter to local communities and industry. Many of these aging bridges required load restrictions that hinder agricultural traffic, emergency access, and cause significant detours for users. This investment has provided much needed support to local bridge agencies that work hard to keep access safe and reliable,” said NDOT Bridge Engineer Ross Barron. “Interest in the program remained strong again this year, with a large number of counties submitting proposals and a large number of bridges included in the proposals. Including this year’s selected bridges, the program has funded the replacement, repair, or removal of 370 deficient bridges since the first round of proposals were selected in January 2017.”
Since the program’s inception, the County Bridge Match Program has:
- Approved funding for 66 of the 70 counties that have submitted proposals.
- Selected 136 proposals for funding to repair or replace around 370 bridges.
- Spurred and supported innovative best practices that have been used on some of the additional 485 bridges that have been replaced with county funds during the same time period.
The CBMP funds 55 percent of eligible bridge construction cost (up to $250,000) with counties providing a 45 percent match. The Round 7 selected proposals include 18 counties and 30 bridges at a total construction cost of $11.5 million of which $5 million is from the CBMP. Selected proposals are listed on the NDOT website at: http://dot.nebraska.gov/projects/tia/bridge-match/.
