Attorney general won't investigate Washington County bridges

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Hayden Wagnon (center), with the Washington County Road Department, watches Eusebio Ortez (left), a technician with GTS, and Dale Barnett, structural steel inspector, do a hydraulic pressure test Thursday on rebar attached to the footings of piers for the Stonewall Bridge on Stonewall Road.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Hayden Wagnon (center), with the Washington County Road Department, watches Eusebio Ortez (left), a technician with GTS, and Dale Barnett, structural steel inspector, do a hydraulic pressure test Thursday on rebar attached to the footings of piers for the Stonewall Bridge on Stonewall Road.

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas attorney general Thursday turned down requests to investigate Washington County’s Road Department and its construction of county bridges, ending one of a slew of requests from local officials for outside investigation.

“The county attorney in the first instance, and ultimately the courts, are better suited than this office to answer questions rises about administrative actions affecting the maintenance and construction of county bridges,” Attorney General Leslie Rutledge wrote in a letter to Justice of the Peace Eva Madison. “Please be assured that I stand ready to be of assistance to the extent there are concerns that fall within the scope of my duties and authority.”

Madison, later joined by several other members of the Quorum Court, had asked for the attorney general’s involvement after questions arose over whether county bridges have been built properly and safely. The county is being sued by a Road Department employee who claims unsafe building practices. A video released last month appears to show Stonewall Bridge near Prairie Grove wasn’t built with sufficient steel reinforcement.

County Judge Marilyn Edwards, who oversees the Road Department, last month ordered the incomplete Stonewall Bridge to be demolished and redone, while the Harvey Dowell Bridge near Fayetteville was placed under a three-ton weight limit.

Edwards had previously asked the Fourth Judicial District prosecutor, Matt Durrett, to look into the matter, but that request had been on hold while the attorney general considered becoming involved. Neither Edwards nor Durrett didn't returned requests for comment Thursday afternoon.

Edwards has also asked the state Highway and Transportation Department to inspect the 33 bridges built in the last 20 years. Rutledge repeated this request in another letter Thursday to department director Scott Bennett.

Danny Straessle, highway department spokesman, said Bennett would send his reply to Edwards, but couldn't say when.

“There are a lot of activities we have going on,” Straessle said, pointing to highway groundbreakings and other projects in Northwest Arkansas and elsewhere.

The county is also drafting a request to the Division of Legislative Audit to look into the Road Department’s spending on its bridge projects.

Madison said she wasn't disappointed by Rutledge's decision, saying all of the requests are simply trying to find the right investigator for the job.

“It's frustrating to me that it appears there's nobody really that is suited to do this investigation,” she said. Madison added with a laugh: “Can somebody just tell us?”

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