Piper Files Petitions for Re-Election , 11-28-11
Timothy J. Piper, P.E., P.S., filed his petitions today for re-election to the office of Allen County Engineer for the term beginning January, 2013. Piper was appointed as Allen County Engineer in September of 2005, was elected to a two-year unexpired term in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008 to a full term of office that ends in 2012.
Looking at the accomplishments of the Allen County Engineer’s office for the past six years, Piper noted some major projects that were completed. The 3-1/2 mile stretch of Eastown Road, Phases 1 through 4, was rebuilt at a total cost of $15 million dollars of which 81 % ($12 million) was paid for by federal and state grants. A $1 million dollar Ohio Department of Development grant paid for rebuilding 1-1/4 miles of Thayer Road to accommodate the Procter and Gamble Transfer Center truck traffic. The Metcalf Street Truss Bridge in Lima was rehabilitated at a cost of $2.5 million dollars with a 95% federal grant. Major ditch projects such as the Flat Fork Creek, Pike Run and Lost Creek were cleaned to improve drainage in various communities in Allen County. Other accomplishments include:
- Twenty-six ditch projects involving 39 miles of ditches were cleaned from 2006 to 2011.
- County and contractor’s road crews have paved 136 miles and sealed 272 miles of county and township roads in the past six years.
- 20 bridges and culverts were replaced or rehabilitated on county and township roads since 2005.
- The Tax Map Office has computerized the tax maps, created all road maps and provided deed reviews.
These and other projects have helped bolster the local economy and have upgraded major transportation infrastructure in Allen County since 2005. All totaled, over $36 million dollars of road, bridge and drainage infrastructure projects have been completed in the last six years.
Safety has also been a major focus of the Allen County Engineer’s Office. Major safety upgrades have been made at intersections, railroads and curved roadways by using high-intensity signing, highly visible pavement markings and innovative ideas such as “blinking stop-signs” and reflective strips on sign-posts. A concerted effort to eliminate obstructions at county road intersections, especially corn during the crop season, has improved safety. Grants have also been used to replace guardrail and traffic signs on county roads. To improve safety during winter months, county road crews applied salt brine to major roads, intersections and overpasses to help melt snow as it falls. Between the county and township snowplow crews, snow is plowed on 1700 lane miles of roadway during a snow event.
The engineer’s office is currently working to replace the bridge on Shawnee Road and to install the first round-about in Allen County at the Shawnee and Ft. Amanda Roads intersection, to improve safety and facilitate better traffic flow.
Piper is looking forward to completing this project and others in the next four years. Piper stated “The men and women that make up the staff and workers at the Allen County Engineer’s office are professional, hard-working individuals that take pride in the improvements and services that they provide to the citizens of Allen County. I have been blessed to work with them for the past 36 years and I look forward to continuing that working relationship in the next four years to serve the citizens of Allen County.”Bliss, Bowsher and Osman Bridges Reopened, 11-23-11
The Allen County Engineer’s Office has replaced and reopened three (3) closed bridges in the county this year. All three (3) of these bridges were steel trusses and had been closed to traffic due to safety concerns with the deteriorating structures. In order to cover the costs of the replacements, the Allen County Engineer utilized both Federal and State Issue One (1) funds to fund these projects. The bridge projects can be described as follows:
- The Bowsher Road Bridge over the Little Ottawa River, which is located between Beeler Road and Sellers Road in Shawnee Township. This bridge has been CLOSED to traffic since 04/15/99. The contractor on this project was R. G. Zachrich Construction from Defiance, Ohio and the contract price for the replacement was $ 720,426.64. This project was a Local Public Agency (LPA) Project with the Ohio Department of Transportation and was funded using ninety-five percent (95%) federal funds.
- The Bliss Road Bridge over the Auglaize River, which is located between Defiance Trail and Conant Road in Marion Township. This bridge has been CLOSED to traffic since 11/08/05. The contractor on this project was Eagle Bridge Co. from Sidney, Ohio and the contract price for the replacement was $ 1,123,040.05. This project was a Local Public Agency (LPA) Project with the Ohio Department of Transportation and was also funded using ninety-five percent (95%) federal funds.
- The Osman Road Bridge over the Auglaize River, which is located between Creps and McPheron Roads in Perry Township. This bridge was CLOSED to traffic on 11/18/09. The contractor on this project was also the Eagle Bridge Co. from Sidney, Ohio and the contract price for this replacement was $ 320,484.80. This project was another Local Public Agency (LPA) Project with the Ohio Department of Transportation but was funded using eighty percent (80%) federal funds and twenty percent (20%) State Issue One funds. Therefore, this project was funded and 100% and there was no cost to Allen County.
Click here for construction photos.
This week is Ohio Winter Safety Awareness Week (November 13th – 19th). The Allen County Engineer’s road crews will soon be preparing for winter weather. The Allen County Engineer sends out 17 trucks with snowplows and salt spreaders every time there is a significant snowfall. The twelve townships in Allen County also send out an additional 16 trucks with plows for a combined total of 33 trucks. Combined, the county and 12 township crews plow 1734 lane miles of roadway, which is the distance from Lima, Ohio to Salt Lake City, Utah; and on a normal snowstorm, the roads are plowed out within five hours. We ask that travelers stay back from snowplow trucks, especially at intersections. Snowplows need to back up at intersections to clear snow and often cannot see cars that pull up behind them. Pleases stay at least two car-lengths behind snowplow trucks at all times.
On the average, the county engineer spends a total of $244,000 per winter for snow removal. Annually 2771 tons of salt are used by the county. The county engineer and most townships utilize the ODOT cooperative group purchasing to purchase de-icing salt. The salt price this year is at $60.67 per ton of salt, which is a 1.6% increase over last years price of $59.73. This year we have a contract amount of 3,503 tons for Allen County and an additional amount of 1,925 tons contracted for the townships that pick up salt here at our garage. The contract allows everyone to receive up to 120% of the contracted amount (4,204 tons for Allen County), at the same price. The contract also states that we must receive a minimum of 80% of the contracted amount (2,802 tons for Allen County) in the event of a mild winter. There was only one winter in the last 16 winters where we actually used more than 4204 tons, which was the winter of 2007-08 in which we used 5,710 tons. We do not anticipate running out of salt or stone grits this winter. We normally install our snow plows on our trucks in mid-November when all road work is completed. It only takes about 10 minutes to install a snow plow on a dump truck. We currently have 6 dump trucks with salt spinners mounted on them for salting bridge decks. We begin running a 3-man night crew in January and continue the night crew until mid-March. Our salt bin is currently full of salt (600 tons).
Some interesting points to be made about snow removal costs:
- The shortage of salt at the end of the Winter of 2007-08 caused the price of salt to jump from $40.49 per ton to $54.49 per ton the following winter
- The two most expensive winters for snow and ice removal for our department were the winters of 2007-08 ($462,177) and 2008-09 ($464,174).
- Last winter was a close third at a total cost of ($454,967).
- Last winter was the most expensive winter for fuel to run trucks with a total cost of $86,485 for diesel fuel.
A few years ago the Allen County Engineer initiated using a salt-brine application to pre-wet roads with salt-brine to get a jump on winter snowstorms. Main routes on the county system and bridge overpasses will be treated before a predicted snowstorm to allow the first inch or two of snow to melt, allowing county crews to get-a-jump on the snowstorm. This makes the roads safer for the traveling public during the beginning of a snowstorm.
The Allen County Engineer posts local road conditions and advisories on his web site: http://coengr.co.allen.oh.us along with links to other winter related websites. A link to the Allen County Emergency Management Agencies web site is also included on the county engineer’s web site, for checking on the declaration of level-one, level-two and level-three snow emergencies.Bliss, Bowsher and Osman Road Bridge Projects Awarded, 4-28-11
Working with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the Allen County Engineer’s Office has received federal funding for the replacement of three (3) CLOSED steel truss bridges in Allen County. After completing the process of advertising, receiving and evaluating the bid submittals, we are now ready to award these three (3) projects. Therefore, today we asked the Board of County Commissioners to pass resolutions approving the contracts and enter into separate agreements with the contractors so they can begin work on these projects as soon as possible. These bridges, their corresponding information and the contractors are as follows:
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Allen County currently has six (6) CLOSED bridges and fifteen (15) bridges with load limits.
- Click here to view the Bliss Road Bridge Bid Tabs.
- Click here to view the Bowsher Road Bid Tabs.
- Click here to view the Osman Road Bid Tabs.
Allen County Installs "When Flooded Turn Around Don't Drown" Signs, 3-30-11
On March 23rd, the Allen County Engineer was presented two signs entitled “WHEN FLOODED TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN” from Michael Lewis, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service. The engineer’s sign crew installed those signs on Wednesday, March 30th at 2 P.M. on Dutch Hollow Road, north of Neff Road (north of Elida). This section of Dutch Hollow Road floods frequently when the Ottawa River is out of its banks. The signs will warn people not to drive through the floodwaters when the road is flooded.
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Allen County Revises Permit Applications, 2-7-11
This is a notice to the general public that the Allen County Engineer's Office has revised its permit applications. The Allen County Engineer's Office requires the following permits for all work performed within the road right-of-way:
Driveway Permit: Installation of a driveway
Construction within the Road Right-of-Way Permit: Construction and/or Utility work consisting of road cuts, bore pits and trenching within the right-of-way
Roadside Tile Tap Permit: Tapping into roadside drainage tile
Moving Permit: Hauling overweight
These permit applications have a fee and a performance bond to ensure proper procedures are followed. Penalties will be assessed for working without a permit.
These permits are not new; the permits have been revised to ensure that work within the county road right-of-way is completed to county standards. The fees and bonds for the permits have also been updated to allow the County to better manage the work done within the county road right-of-way under the permit by the contractor.
The new revisions will go into effect on February 7, 2011.
Click Here to go to the permits page.
Timothy J. Piper, P.E., P.S., Elected Second Vice-President Of CEAO For 2011, 12-15-10
Timothy J. Piper, Allen County Engineer, has been elected to serve as Second Vice-President of the Executive Board of the County Engineer’s Association of Ohio, Inc. (CEAO) for 2011.
Timothy J. Piper, who has served on the CEAO Board of Directors as District 1 Director for the past two (2) years, was sworn in as Second Vice-President at the County Commissioners Association of Ohio/County Engineers Association of Ohio, Inc. (CCAO/CCEO) Winter Conference on December 7, 2010.
As Second Vice-President, Tim is required to preside at any CEAO Board of Directors meeting at which the President and First Vice President would be absent. He is also to attend CEAO Executive Committee meetings and perform other official duties as requested by the President. He also serves as co-chair of the CEAO Bridge Committee and has been actively involved in that committee.
In 1940, after sixty years of changes in name and scope, the County Engineers Association of Ohio, Inc. (CEAO) came into being. Its purpose is to raise the technical and non-technical standards of service rendered the general public, by the County Engineers and their employees, through the establishment of a central point of reference and group discussion of mutual problems of county engineers.
Tim has served as Allen County Engineer since 2005 and has worked at the Allen County Engineer’s department since 1975. He is a graduate of the Ohio Northern University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. He is licensed as both a Professional Engineer and a Professional Surveyor in the State of Ohio.
Tim is married to wife, Corinne and they reside in American Township.
Lora K. Redick Elected Vice-President of CCC/EAPA For 2011, 12-15-10
Lora K. Redick, Account Clerk at the Allen County Engineer’s office, has been elected to serve as Vice-President of the Executive Board of the County Commissioners’ Clerks and Engineers’ Administrative Professionals Association (CCC/EAPA) for 2011.
Lora K. Redick, who served as Secretary to the Executive Board in 2010, was sworn in as Vice-President at the County Commissioners Association of Ohio/County Engineers Association of Ohio (CCAO/CCEO) Winter Conference on December 7, 2010.
As Vice-President, Lora is required to preside at any meeting which the President is unable to attend and to assist the President as needed. She shall report on any legislative changes or pending legislation that would affect the commissioners or engineers offices and research issues at the request of the members.
The CCC/EAPA was established in 1951. Its primary purpose is to better serve the County Commissioners and Engineers of Ohio by studying the various duties and procedures pertaining to the offices, providing a clearinghouse of related information and networking opportunities for its membership, and promoting legislation that supports the maintenance of a well-organized and efficient office, among other things. Membership is drawn from all 88 Ohio counties.
Mrs. Redick began working for the Allen County Engineer in 1995 as Receptionist. She was then named Account Clerk in 2007, her present position today. Mrs. Redick is married to husband, Matt and resides in Shawnee Township along with their three children, Joel, Morgan and Maegan.