Bridge Repair

Background

In August 2011, Hurricane Irene caused major damage to many of the Warren County Freeholders’ (Applicant) bridges, including Bridge 13011.  Hurricane Irene produced vegetative debris that partially clogged the waterway under the bridge and caused major scouring and undermining at the bridge piers.  The Applicant’s contractor repaired the scouring, filled in the undermining, and repaired missing stones on certain sections of the bridge.[1]  FEMA prepared Project Worksheet (PW) 1854 to fund the bridge repairs, but later found the repairs ineligible based on pre-event Bridge Inspection Reports. 

Prior to Hurricane Irene, Cherry, Weber, and Associates (consulting engineers) inspected the bridge and reported its findings in two Bridge Inspection Reports, dated June 17, 2009 and June 8, 2011.  These reports indicated that there was scour at three of the bridge piers requiring immediate corrective action that predated Hurricane Irene striking the region.  In a letter, dated June 17, 2011, (Priority 2 Repair letter) the consulting engineers recommended that the Applicant “underpin the undermined areas of the scour toes with concrete and protect with stone rip-rap” to repair the damage identified during the June 2011 inspection.[2]  The consulting engineers listed this as a “Priority 2” repair.[3]  The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT) assigns Priority 2 status to bridges with an “imminent defect in the superstructure, substructure or deck which, if not repaired in the near future (within 3 months), may cause a load restriction or collapse of the structure.”[4]  The NJ DOT provides “substantial undermining of bearing area” and “major scour problems with footings on piles” as examples of Priority 2 repairs.[5]  Additionally, the June 2011 report recommended that the Applicant “install gabion mattresses extending across each span” of the bridge as a countermeasure to prevent future scour.[6]   The Applicant did not complete the repairs or the countermeasures prior to Hurricane Irene.  FEMA reviewed the reports, and Priority 2 Repair letter, and determined the damages claimed to have been caused by Hurricane Irene were actually the result of deferred maintenance.

First Appeal

The Applicant submitted its first appeal on May 23, 2012.  With the appeal, the Applicant asserted that Hurricane Irene caused high flood levels and high stream velocities resulting in extensive scour and channel erosion.  The Applicant also asserted that the preexisting scour was minimal and did not contribute in any way to the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Irene.  The Applicant stated that the Bridge Inspection Report, dated June 17, 2009, provided no repair or countermeasure recommendations and that the Priority 2 Repair letter was the first priority repair notification received for the bridge.  The Applicant maintained it was not able to complete the Priority 2 repairs before the disaster occurred. 

In the first appeal, the Applicant referenced a Priority Emergency Repair letter, dated September 22, 2011, that identified the overall scope of damage caused by Hurricane Irene.[7]  In the letter, engineering consultants recommended the following emergency repairs: (1) remove unsound concrete and rebuild fractured and missing scour toe with reinforced concrete doweled into sound portions of the remaining toe, (2) underpin the undermined areas of the remaining scour toe with concrete, (3) riprap the full perimeter of the pier with suitably sized stone riprap, and (4) remove loose masonry and rebuild the east end of the stone masonry pier in-kind.[8]     

In a letter, dated May 31, 2013, the Region II Acting Regional Administrator (RA) partially approved the appeal because, as she noted, the first report, dated June 17, 2009, did not provide any countermeasure recommendations.  The Acting RA stated that the second report, dated June 8, 2011, gave the Applicant ninety (90) days to implement corrective measures that included underpinning the undermined areas of the scour toes with concrete and installing gabion mattresses extending across each span.  Hurricane Irene occurred within the mandatory 90-day window.  The Acting RA reduced the original cost estimate for repair of disaster damage, $378,666.23, to exclude the costs associated with implementing the Priority 2 repair, that the consulting engineers estimated at $5,000, and countermeasure recommendations, estimated at $180,000.[9]  Accordingly, FEMA obligated a version to PW 1854 for $193,666.23.

Second Appeal

In its second appeal, dated August 30, 2013, the Applicant asserts that the damage caused to its bridge was not the result of deferred maintenance.  The Applicant states that the preexisting scouring was minimal and did not contribute to damage caused by Hurricane Irene.  The Applicant differentiates between the Priority 2 repair, which the Applicant had 90 days to implement, and the countermeasures, provided in the June 8, 2011 Report, that were recommendations, not requirements.  The Applicant states that the countermeasures would not have made much of a difference regarding the damage done by the disaster because they are designed to address typical storm events, not catastrophic events, like Hurricane Irene.  Finally, the Applicant asserts that the countermeasure recommendations would have been cost-prohibitive.  The Applicant requests that FEMA approve $180,000 in additional funding for the repair of the disaster damage.