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Boone County highway staff report cost-saving culvert reuse and win $13 million bridge grant
Summary
Boone County highway staff told the County Committee of the Whole on May 1 that crews repurposed old railroad tanker cars as large culverts on Quail Trap Road, IDOT will hold a public meeting May 21 on Route 173, and the county won a $13 million bridge bundling grant requiring no local match.
Boone County Highway Department staff reported on May 1 that crews repurposed old railroad tanker cars as large-diameter culverts, and that the county received a $13,000,000 state bridge bundling award that requires no local match. The department also urged residents to attend an Illinois Department of Transportation public input meeting on Illinois Route 173 on May 21 in Capron.
The county’s highway presenter, Justin (Highway Department staff), told the Committee of the Whole that crews cut the ends off old railroad tanker cars and used two 48-foot sections (9-foot-3-inch diameter) as culverts on Quail Trap Road, east of Poplar Grove Road. ‘‘The price is less than half of what it would be for buying a new culvert, and the thickness is about eight times thicker,’’ Justin said, describing the Quail Trap Road installation and the widened shoulders the longer culvert allowed.
Justin said IDOT’s Route 173 project — the stretch between McHenry County and Route 76 — is in poor condition and that IDOT is pushing to use available funds quickly; a public meeting will be May 21 at the Lions Club in Capron. He also described a statewide picture: fewer local asphalt plants in recent years have pushed local asphalt costs from roughly $50 per ton five years ago to the ‘‘upper seventies’’ per ton this year, and that local suppliers had consolidated.
The highway presenter said the county was awarded a $13,000,000 bridge bundling package after four years of work; that grant, he said, should cover several large bridge replacements without a local match and “get us over the hump” on the county’s bridge deficit. Justin identified specific large bridges already in process: replacements on Papa Grove Road and Woodstock Road and several long-span structures over the Piscasaw that cost about $2.3 million apiece.
County board members asked for IDOT section or project numbers for Route 173 and discussed outreach to state representatives and senators. Justin said he would supply the IDOT section number and attend the May 21 public meeting. He also told the board he expects more local asphalt competition within three to five years as new plants come online.
The presentation closed with board members thanking staff and encouraging public participation in the IDOT meeting.
Ending: The highway update was informational; no formal action was taken. County staff said they will provide more project identifiers to board members and will continue to pursue state funding and local strategies to offset higher asphalt costs.
