Dickinson County public works staff described a slate of bridge projects scheduled to start in October and explained how the county will pay for them, while flagging environmental and inspection requirements that affect scope and timing.

Public works staff reported that the off‑system bridge project on 1160/1100 Avenue received a contractor bid of $1,264,470 and that the county received $1,250,000 in off‑system funding toward the work. The staff summary identified county outlays for right‑of‑way acquisition and utility relocations as roughly $4,200 and $1,665 respectively, plus an additional amount above the state funding that the county would cover; staff summarized total county cost exposure in the range reported at the meeting (about $20,394.50) to complete a 153‑foot concrete bridge.

Staff also said Reece Construction won the bid for three bridges — on 345 Road, 240 Road and 500 Avenue — with a combined bid of $1,677,362.71. The individual bridge estimates cited at the meeting were roughly $330,000 for the smallest job, about $435,000 for the 240 Road bridge and about $911,000 for the 500 Avenue bridge. Public works said those three jobs will be funded from county sales tax revenues allocated for bridges.

County staff explained inspection and regulatory costs: the county paid an annual bridge inspection contract this year of about $282,000 and described federal inspection standards and recent reporting changes that increased engineering costs. Staff said federal requirements flow to the state and then to counties, raising the cost and administrative burden of maintaining a large bridge inventory.

Environmental constraints were also highlighted. Staff discussed a native fish species (Topeka shiner) and spawning season protections that limit in‑water work, and said design changes (for example, replacing some bridges with 20‑foot “structures” rather than larger bridges) have allowed the county to remove some bridges from the annual inspection list and reduce long‑term costs.

What happened next: staff will continue right‑of‑way negotiations, hold a KDOT field check on Oct. 17 for a high‑risk railroad project, and proceed with contractor scheduling and utility coordination. No formal commission vote on awarding these bids was recorded in this meeting transcript.

Why it matters: bridge projects are capital‑intensive and interact with state funding rules, environmental permitting and federal inspection obligations. Those interactions determine how much of the cost the county must pay, how quickly projects can proceed and the county’s long‑term inspection obligations.