County secures $294,500 bridge grant and approves multiple road‑maintenance contracts
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Summary
Pennington County received a $294,500 state bridge rehabilitation grant for Thunderhead Falls and approved a slate of annual road maintenance contracts including micro‑surface and aggregate awards; commissioners said the awards will help address accident-prone corridors.
Pennington County highway staff told the commission on March 17 that the county won one of three applied-for bridge improvement grants: $294,500 to rehabilitate the Thunderhead Falls bridge. Joe/Joel Miller said the award contributes to a cumulative county highway grant total of roughly $5.7 million since 2020, including construction and engineering dollars.
Highway staff then presented the department’s annual bid recommendations for asphalt crack seal, asphalt surface treatments (including a move from chip seal to micro‑surface on some routes), and aggregate stockpiles. Key recommended awards approved by the board included an asphalt crack‑seal award to ZNZ Seal Coating (Billings) for about $298,876.82; an asphalt surface treatment award to Simon Contractors of Rapid City for approximately $2,000,054.02; and aggregate crushing awards to 63 Industries for projects at Robertson and Bessette pits totaling roughly $307,500 and $268,300 respectively. Staff explained higher micro‑surface costs are driven by different oil and aggregate and that the approach aims to extend pavement life ahead of mill and overlay projects.
Commissioners discussed reciprocal in‑state bid preferences and noted local bidders were competitive; staff said state reciprocity statutes typically require matching the home‑state treatment, which in this case made out‑of‑state bids effectively equal for procurement purposes. The board approved the bridge agreement and the recommended contract awards in a series of voice votes.
