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Wright County engineer outlines cross-slope monitoring, culvert inventory and bridge timing
Summary
County Engineer Adam Clemens described steps to quantify road crowns, inventory culverts, pilot sensor monitoring on motor graders and scheduling considerations for a bridge contractor with possible April mobilization.
Wright County Engineer Adam Clemens told the Board of Supervisors the county is recording cross slopes on motor graders and inventorying culverts to guide spring maintenance and blade-operator training.
Clemens said crews are using mounts and cross-slope measuring tools on motor graders to record routes and existing crown measurements, then will upload the data to the county's culvert management program. "We aim for a 4 to 6% cross slope," Clemens said, adding that excessive crown can create secondary ditches and other maintenance problems.
He reported crews completed 18 work orders last week and 26 work orders in the most recent period, most involving sign installation and repairs. Culvert inspections were recorded for Boone, Liberty, Eagle Grove, Troy, Pleasant and Vernon, with those entries slated to be transferred into the county's culvert-management system.
Clemens said he has discussed with the county's AVL vendor the potential to fit a tape or hydraulic-sensor to motor-grader hydraulics to provide a live digital readout of blade position; the sensor would be similar to ones used to track blade up/down positions. He also said the county's contractor for one bridge project, PCI, has experience with box culverts and that contract-signing and mobilization timing could affect sequencing: if the contractor arrives in April and must stop in late spring for in-stream work restrictions, the contractor might shift to other county bridge sites and return later.
The engineer noted calls from farmers about high crowns causing vehicles to high-center when hauling equipment, underscoring the operational need to monitor crowns and adjust grading practice. Clemens said crews are recording routes now to inform a spring work plan and to make operators more cognizant of local differences in crown across the network.
The board asked for updates on contractor scheduling for the bridge replacement and for continued reporting on culvert inventory and the proposed sensor pilot.
