USDOT Announces $12.4 Million To Fund Bridge Improvements In Colorado
DENVER (CBS4) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced Colorado will receive $12.4 million for bridge improvements. The funding is part of a $225 million grant through the Competitive Highway Bridge Program (CHBP).
The grant is awarded to 20 projects in 18 states to fund a variety of bridge improvements including replacement and rehabilitation.
"This $225 million in federal funding will enable 18 states to make vital upgrades to select bridges in rural areas," said Secretary Chao.
The project will replace 14 culverts using advanced bridge construction techniques across southern and western Colorado, along key corridors providing rural mobility and connections to interstate commerce. State Highway 9 provides access for tourists to recreation destinations in the Rocky Mountains, US-24 provides access across the Rocky Mountains as a major east/west corridor and US-350 provides a connection between I-23 and US-50.
By law, the funds were restricted to states with population densities of less than 100 people per square-mile based on census data. Twenty-five states met program qualifications.
The funds must be used for highway bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects on public roads that leverage the efficiencies associated with "bundling" at least two highway bridge projects into a single contract. Bundling offers cost and time savings, which are beneficial to reducing the transportation project backlog. It allows the opportunity to address many projects facing similar needs using innovative replacement and rehabilitation strategies in a cost-effective manner.
"The projects funded under the program will serve as models for similar bridge improvement projects throughout the nation," said Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. Nason. "They are examples of how to achieve time and cost savings through innovation."
Congress funded the CHBP grant program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, from the U.S. Treasury's General Fund.