Lancaster County engineering outlines 2026–27 road and bridge program, warns of supply-chain and inflation pressures

Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman presented the county—s proposed one- and six-year road and bridge construction program for fiscal years 2026–2031 to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission on Sept. 3 and outlined persistent supply-chain delays, construction inflation and a growing backlog of culvert and bridge maintenance needs. The commission approved Comprehensive Plan Conformance 25008 by a 7-0 roll-call vote.

Dingman said Lancaster County—s maintenance inventory includes 289 bridges, roughly 6,900 pipe culverts, 1,000 box culverts and about 1,400 centerline miles of road. She told commissioners that supply-chain issues have delayed delivery of heavy equipment — including snowplows and dump trucks — for more than two years and that long lead times for parts (often 8 to 12 weeks or more) are creating operational resiliency problems.

On construction costs, Dingman said the county is still facing the legacy of large inflation since 2020: "If we call 2020 our…