By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County Commissioners awarded a $2,026,000 contract for painting and rehabilitation of six major bridges to APBN Inc. of Campbell, which was the lowest of three bidders for the job.

The bridges to be painted this year are the Market Street bridge over the Mahoning River and the Powersway bridge over Pine Hollow, both in Youngstown, the Lowellville Road bridge over Yellow Creek in Struthers, the Mahoning Avenue bridge in Milton Township, the Bedell Road bridge in Berlin Township, and the Lake Park Boulevard bridge in Smith Township.

The company will sandblast away rust and old paint before applying primer and new paint to the bridges.

All the bridges and any roads under them will be open to traffic during the painting.

Bridge painting “helps extend the life and structural integrity of the bridges by protecting the structural steel from the elements” and keeps them from rotting and salt corrosion, county Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti said Thursday.

“It’s necessary maintenance of the bridges. It’s costly, but to replace a bridge is much more expensive,” he added.

Eighty percent of the money for the project is from federal surface-transportation funds and 20 percent is from local revenues from the gasoline tax and license-plate fees.

In other matters, the commissioners set their next meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday in the auditorium of Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., which is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.

The commissioners will be meeting there to celebrate the re-opening of the former hospital cafeteria, which will be operated by the Purple Cat program for disabled adults.

The auditorium is reached through Entrance A, where the county’s board of elections, veterans service commission and auto-title department are located.

Also, the commissioners honored Ron Marian, who will be retiring Wednesday as county mental-health board director, and they issued a proclamation in recognition of May as Mental Health Month.