A final effort by the Ohio Department of Transportation to find an interested party to obtain the Roche de Boeuf bridge in the city of Waterville was not successful, prompting the agency to proceed with eventual demolition.
“ODOT’s mission is to safely move people and goods from place to place. At one time, this bridge supported that mission. The bridge now, however, serves no purpose for transportation, and in its deteriorated state poses a risk to the public,” said Patrick McColley, Deputy Director for ODOT District 2.
At the public auction on June 30, there were two interested parties that bid on the bridge. At the end of the auction, the highest bidder submitted a bid of $6,500.
Twenty days later, the highest bidder withdrew the offer, and the second bidding party then signed a contract to purchase the bridge for the auction’s next highest bid of $6,000.
As part of the auction criteria, a specific feasible plan to retain and maintain or to remove and clear the bridge structure and its fallen remnants, with appropriate commercial liability insurance to cover such actions, was to be submitted. The second party was given an initial period of 60 days, plus two 30-day extensions, with the final extension expiring on Dec. 2, to submit their plan. The department has remained in contact with the second party throughout the process.
Ultimately the second party did not produce any plans by Dec. 2, so the second party’s obligations were unfilled, and the agreement is null and void. There were no other interested bidders at the auction, and stakeholders and public entities have been offered the property but expressed no interest, so ODOT will move forward with a removal project. It is estimated the process will take at least a year until removal will begin, and there will be more information about the project prior to removal.
“We understand the community’s affection for this bridge and know this is not the desired outcome, but ODOT cannot justify spending millions of dollars in additional taxpayer money on restoring a structure that does not serve a transportation purpose,” McColley said.
