The Webster County Board of Supervisors approved a bid of $94,067 for a culvert replacement project located on 240th Street west of Moorland.
The Webster County Engineers received two bids for the project: one from Peterson Contractors Inc. in Reinbeck for $107,000, and the lowest bid from Midwest Contracting LLC.
The bids were opened during the supervisors' Tuesday meeting.
Engineer Randy Will said contractors will tear out the 6-ton bridge above the culvert, then install a 12-by-12 precast concrete culvert and place 4 feet of fill on top, followed by rock and grading. He estimated the project would take 15 working days, starting no later than Oct. 4.
Prairie Creek - also known as Drainage District 69 - flows underneath the structure.
Will said the bridge posed safety concerns, and it had been the department's goal to "take care of it" by 2010.
The size of the culvert was chosen to correlate with a 12-by-12 culvert installed a half-mile upstream at the new U.S. Highway 20 location.
Will said the money will come directly out of the secondary roads department's budget. There will be no financial assistance from grants or the state for the project.
In other business the board approved:
- A motion to not renew a letter of understanding on compensatory time for the Webster County Sheriff's office and Teamsters Local 238. The contract expired June 30 and allowed for comp time to be used in lieu of overtime, beginning January 2010.
- Two six-month appropriations for the Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management department. The first appropriation totaled $30,000 for tree and brush removal. The second was $30,550 for noxious weed control, such as leafy spurge and thistles. The money will come from the county's rural basic fund.
- A permit application for MidAmerican Energy to install a new primary underground electric cable across a section of Samson Avenue to repair a failed existing electric cable.
Contact Lindsey Mutchler at (515) 573-2141 or lindsey@messengernews.net