County engineering outlines 2025 road and bridge program, project timelines and budget impacts

County Engineer Justin Madder briefed the Saline County Board of Commissioners on the road and bridge program for 2025 and accomplishments since October 2024, including completed paving work, awarded construction contracts and the office''s new unmanned aerial system.

Madder said APAC Kansas completed hot-mix asphalt overlay and patching work for $1,227,244.31; Payment Pros completed bituminous crack sealing for $22,416.80. The county received a drone with photogrammetry and LiDAR sensors through a North Central Regional Planning Commission-supported grant and is training staff on the equipment.

Contract awards and project updates noted in the briefing: - Shippo Road reinforced-concrete-box and Simpson Road improvements: Reece Construction awarded $309,501.60; project includes $200,000 ARPA reimbursement; construction anticipated in late spring or summer 2025. - Waterwell Road bridge (three-span, 80-foot): King Construction under contract for $825,548.62; work started in late 2024 with pile driving reported on east pier. - Pipelines/pipelining contract: Mayer Specialty Services (named in staff materials) awarded $554,463.95 for 21 locations; three sites completed, remainder expected in March.

Madder summarized the 2025 asphalt-maintenance program and estimated costs: an overall budget for contractual asphalt work of about $3,009,000 (including a $2,800,000 line item plus roughly $209,000 of federal fund-exchange money); an estimated construction cost of ~$2,700,000 with a contingency/carryover buffer. He also described special-fund balances: the special road construction account (sometimes called the "1 mill" fund) has an unencumbered balance of about $2.126 million; the special bridge-construction ("2 mil") account has about $679,800; the special highway-improvement fund has about $2.661 million.

Other project notes: the Ohio Street road-improvement design will include raising the roadway by about 18 inches, base stabilization with chemical stabilizer and new pipe/ditch work to address standing water; Madder estimated upgrading a gravel road to asphalt could cost $1.25'$1.5 million per mile. The county is entering a federally required biennial bridge-inspection cycle for roughly 220 bridges; Madder said inspections will occupy most field staff for the next month or two and could slow other project work.

Commissioners asked technical questions about stabilizer use and potential downstream effects of raising roadway grade; Madder said the design includes new pipes and restored ditching, and staff is seeking contractors with GPS grade-control capability to meet the flat-site grading challenges.