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On Siegrist-Jutte Road just east of State Route 49, a bridge running over the Wabash River is slated to be replaced. The federally funded project will involve both the bridge replacement and roadway approach reconstruction. The project will be done in the second half of 2026.
CELINA - Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart said his office plans to widen a massive amount of pavement this year in a never-ending bid to enhance the safety and drivability of county roads.
In his 2025 annual report, Wiechart also provided a recap of his office's work in 2025, which included bridge and culvert replacements, the resurfacing of 13.4 miles of roads and the chip-and-seal resurfacing of nearly 40 miles of road.
Looking ahead to this year, though, Wiechart said his office has a budget of $14 million, which is primarily funded by auto license registration fees, gas excise fees, state and federal grants and/or interest-free loans and reimbursements from townships where engineer crews perform work.
Road and bridge improvements are funded exclusively by auto license registration and gas excise fees. No real estate, sales or property tax revenue is tapped for these purposes, Wiechart has often stressed.
"The amount of pavement widening we have planned for 2026 is exceptional and is the largest amount of this work activity type since I have been here," Wiechart, who's held the office for nearly 25 years, told The Daily Standard.
His office tentatively aims to widen the pavement of roughly 18 miles of county roads, which now typically measure 18 to 20 feet in total width. Once his office has completed its work, the roads will be at or near 24 feet in width.
Pavement is slated to be widened on Mud Pike, Township Line, St. Anthony, Chickasaw , Coldwater Creek, Philothea and Sharpsburg roads.
"We are excited, thankful and fortunate to be able to improve the geometrics on these roads. This may not seem like a lot but these improvements will be very beneficial for both the safety and usability of these roads," said Wiechart, who was named County Engineer of the Year by The County Engineers Association of Ohio in 2016.
Additionally, Wiechart's office intends to undertake asphalt concrete resurfacing of Fort Recovery-Minster Road from U.S. Route 127 to Clune Stucke Road, and possibly a 0.3-mile section of Fairground Road near the City of Celina's corporate limits.
As has been the case for the last several years, Wiechart projects his crews will chip-and-seal roughly 80 to 100 miles of county and township roads. Most of those roads will receive a fog seal application as well.
Chip-and-seal involves the application of a layer of liquid asphalt followed by a layer of aggregate, which can add as much as five years to the life of a road and costs significantly less than a full asphalt overlay. It is often followed up with a light application of asphalt emulsion known as fog seal as a cost-effective protectant.
Shoulder-widening will occur on Miller, Fleetfoot, Skeels and Schroeder roads, and potentially St. Johns Road later in the year.
Furthermore, a multi-year contract will continue in 2026.
"Braun Excavating is continuing and will finish up work on Shelly, Gallman, Coldwater Creek and Harrison and Chickasaw Roads," Wiechart noted.
On Siegrist-Jutte Road just east of State Route 49, a bridge running over the Wabash River is slated to be replaced. The federally funded project will involve both the bridge replacement and roadway approach reconstruction. The project will be done in the second half of 2026.
Wiechart's office is planning bridge replacements on Huwer, Sharpsburg, Erastus-Durbin and Siegrist-Jutte roads. It also will waterproof seven bridges on Burrville, Stover, Kuhn, Hone-Weir, Oregon and Ross roads.
The most substantial of the aforementioned projects is the replacement of a bridge on Siegrist-Jutte Road, just east of State Route 49, which is estimated at $1.53 million and will be entirely covered with federal funds.
"(It) will involve both the bridge replacement and associated roadway approach reconstruction," Wiechart said, noting bids are scheduled to be opened March 17. "This project will be done later in the second half of 2026."
The Mercer County Engineer's Office completed their annual inspection of the county's 363 bridges, four of which were replaced in 2025.
Wiechart announced Monday that the yearly inspections of the county's 363 bridges on township and county roads have been completed. Assistant county engineer Aaron Moeller completed the inspections before the end of 2025, according to a news release from Wiechart's office.
"Bridge inspection is completed annually for several very important reasons," Wiechart said. "First our bridge maintenance/work orders are generated directly from our yearly inspections. Secondly, decisions on future bridge replacements/rehabilitations are made as a result of the condition ratings garnered from the inspection. Third and most importantly, we inspect them to protect the public that uses them each day."
In Ohio, the professionally licensed and elected county engineer manages and oversees bridge inspections on township and county roadways.
No details have been released at this time about the results of the inspections.
The county engineer's office had revenue of $13 million and expenditures of $12.2 million in 2025, Wiechart noted in his annual report.
Oglesby Construction Inc. completed 109.1 miles of center line and 55.83 miles of edge line striping and auxiliary markings at a cost of $88,010.
The engineer's office works alongside Mercer County Solid Waste District to organize litter pick-up. In 2025, seven townships picked up litter along county roads. The engineer's office paid each group $30 per mile of county roads for their efforts. Litter was picked up along 218.62 miles of county roads. The solid waste office supplied trash bags, safety vests, signs and dumpsters for the project and paid the litter disposal fees.
Wiechart's office replaced 415 of 5,281 signs on both county and township roads. Running G Farms LLC completed mowing throughout the county on all county roads at a cost of $83,086.90. Once mowing on roadway side ditches was caught up and conditions allowed, a small portion of five county ditch maintenance open ditches were mowed.
County crews installed 45 catch basins, and eight locations had trees cut and brush removed, along with other miscellaneous locations with more minor cuttings.
During the winter months, 2,005 tons of salt were used to mitigate snow and ice at a cost of $155,714, and 2,005 tons of grit were used at a cost of $22,314. Employees logged 1,706 hours of overtime removing snow. In all, the costs of snow and ice control and removal in 2025 was $590,177.
The Daltons sprayed roadside herbicide on 385 miles of county roads at a cost of $34,386. Also, 126 miles of county roads were treated with preventive growth regulator.
County ditch maintenance activities continued to improve county drainage maintenance infrastructure, Wiechart wrote in his report.
The office sprayed 55 ditches with the goal of keeping noxious weeds and brush to a minimum.
"Five of the open ditches were fully mowed and 11 had work done on them in some way: dip out, rip rap placement or tile repairs. All 11 open ditches had rip-rap material placed in long stretches to protect the banks from erosion. 467 loads of recycled concrete were hauled to various ditches and used as rip-rap," the report states.
Five new ditch projects were completed and accepted for permanent maintenance with Wiechart's office.
There was a total expenditure of $250,461 and over 726 hours involved for ditch maintenance infrastructure-related tasks.
The engineer's office also completed four bridge replacements in 2025. Two large culverts were replaced and one large culvert was extended.
"It is important to be mindful that the bridge crew not only completes the actual structure work of the construction, but also does all the excavation and embankment activities adjoining the structure work; often-times improving not only the bridge structure but also improving the adjoining roadway approach attributes via their efforts," the report states. "On occasion, our bridge crew supports our roadway crews and also on occasion, our roadway personnel will support our bridge crew, as is needed with good flexibility in directing labor and equipment to any needed operations."
Waterproofing procedures were completed on five bridges. One bridge project was federally funded and completed by a contractor.
The county engineer's office had 27 employees and six seasonal employees in 2025.
