Construction projects around the county experiencing good progress

Four bridge or culvert projects are underway in some form or another, leaving County Engineer Nick Kauffman very pleased with how the current construction season’s progress.

He said that while asphalt projects are more time consuming — and there have been many of them over the last couple of years — bridges are just as important as they allow travel for motorists and farmers alike on Adair County’s rural roadways.

A bridge deck was poured on the project in Section 5 of Richland Township along 280th Street south of Fontanelle. Kauffman expects the bridge to be open in four to six weeks.

A bridge on Brown Avenue just north of the Adams County line is partially complete, however the contractor has transitioned to another job and will be back in July. That bridge is a major project costing $1.2 million in federal dollars that Kauffman hopes will still be complete by winter.

A company is doing work to replace a box culvert on York Avenue near 260th Street in Grand River Township. Kauffman expects that to reopen within the next two weeks, as work is nearly complete.

A fourth contractor is working on a bridge along 330th Street between Orange and Pinewood avenues in Orient Township.

While that’s the current projects, a bridge on Riverside Avenue south of 120th Street in Jefferson Township went out for bids Monday. In July a project will go out for bids to extend culverts in 16 locations along Fontanelle Road south of Fontanelle. Kauffman is unsure of whether that project would occur this fall or be pushed to spring 2024.

There are several bridges to be replaced that are under the design phase right now.

“We’ve got a lot of projects,” Kauffman said. “Asphalt projects are the ones that really consume your summer. These projects are pretty manageable, from my perspective, but we’ll be pretty busy the next couple years.”

Another notable item Kauffman shared is that for the first time in six years, there will soon be no wind turbine road use agreements in use in the county, meaning all building or re-powering projects will be complete.