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Road Department reports heavy winter workload, bridge progress and bids for spring projects
Summary
Road Department staff reported increased sanding hours, bridge progress at Bigfork, bidding for Blankenship Bridge, Manning Farm RSID utility delays and an asphalt-plant software upgrade; commissioners authorized publication of annual road-department chemical bids.
Flathead County's Road Department on Jan. 7 told commissioners it has seen an uptick in winter maintenance, is moving forward on several bridge projects and will publish its annual bids for asphalt, fuel and related materials.
Dave Prunty (presenting as "Dave") reviewed department statistics, saying year-to-date sanding hours have risen to about 1,900 compared with about 1,300 the prior year. He described the difference as the kind of nuisance snow and warmer-snow cycles that consume sanding material even when plowing needs are limited.
Prunty updated the board on multiple bridge projects. On the Bigfork (Bridger/Bridal) bridge project he described a heavy-lift operation that used a 300-ton crane to remove the old structure and move it to Bridge Street so the contractor could cut and clear the old bridge. He said utility relocations remain the major schedule risk, with several communications providers still needing to move lines and one (CenturyLink) delaying work due to parts availability. Prunty said some lines have moved and others committed to move by the end of the week; the county has not received a full schedule from all carriers. He said the contractor, Battle Ridge Builders, is proceeding with micro pile work and that the county still hopes for a summer completion, though the schedule has already lost time.
Prunty also reported the Blankenship Bridge was out to bid with six companies at the pre-bid and local permitting complete, and that the Manning Farm RSID project is staged but waiting on a utility relocation (CenturyLink) in parts of the corridor; the county said Sandry (contractor) has stockpiled most of the needed material.
On asphalt work, Prunty said the county overlaid 8.49 miles in the previous year at a total cost just over $1.4 million (about $165,875 per mile), compared with a prior-year average near $99,000 per mile — a difference he attributed mainly to haul distances and project locations. He also said the county will upgrade roughly 20-year-old asphalt-plant computer software this spring at an estimated cost of about $106,000.
Commissioners approved authorization to publish the county's annual road-department chemical bids (asphalt plant, fuel, warm-mix additive and other materials) and accepted the monthly report.
Prunty and commissioners also discussed constraints on holding utilities to relocation schedules and the county's efforts to seek legislative remedies; staff said talks have occurred with local legislative representatives about possible remedies but no bill language was yet finalized.
The Road Department asked the commissioners to note higher winter-material usage and to expect follow-up once utility relocations allow certain projects to move forward.
