Dubois County completes 2025 paving, opens 2026 material bids and starts bridge replacements

Highway Engineer Levi Leffert reported the 2025 paving program is complete after Calcar finished paving on Dubois‑Cuzco Road and Old Petersburg Road; remaining work on 490 W was expected to finish the same day. Leffert said he is compiling a 2026 road‑improvement list and anticipates more chip seal miles next year due to reduced paving funding.

Bridge 21 (200 W over Little Creek) is undergoing beam and deck replacement; crews have demolished the existing deck, added scour protection at footers and poured the mud wall. Leffert estimated the work will continue 3–4 weeks, barring unforeseen issues. Bridge 116 (CR 820 E, 0.8 miles north of Schnellville Road) is planned to have its superstructure replaced with steel beams and a concrete deck starting in December with a detour that increases drive time by about four minutes over 3.3 miles; Leffert said fire district coverage would not see increased emergency response times.

At 9:00 a.m. the board opened and read aloud the advertised bids for 2026 highway materials (Exhibit A) including aluminized steel pipe, polyethylene pipe, geotextile, ready‑mixed concrete, bituminous materials, asphaltic concrete, cold mix, and quarry stone. The bids were made available for inspection and referred to Highway Department staff for compliance review; awards are scheduled for Dec. 1, 2025.

Donnie Lueken reported the sanitation sites will close Nov. 27 for Thanksgiving and that crack sealing began the day of the meeting; he asked the public for patience near work zones. The board received a report on an asphalt rejuvenation test strip by Rejuvtec, Inc. that will be evaluated over the coming years.