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Chase County road-and-bridge report: catastrophic 190 Road failure, $216,000 contractor quote and more maintenance work planned
Summary
Road and Bridge Director Tom Kirk reported a catastrophic failure of a structure on 190 Road and presented a Husker Steel quote of roughly $216,000 to replace it, discussed possible FEMA reimbursement, solicited bids for a two-mile stabilization project on Lake Road, and flagged a contractor ditch-cleaning quote that exceeded FEMA rates.
Road and Bridge Director Tom Kirk told the Chase County Commissioners on June 30 that the structure on 190 Road between McCories and Conways suffered a catastrophic failure and remains closed.
Kirk presented a Husker Steel proposal that he summarized as $168,500 for the bridge structure plus about $48,500 for installation — "216,000 and some change," he said. He recommended considering contracting the installation rather than completing the full work in-house, citing comparable in-house estimates and the difficulty of scheduling an immediate county-led replacement. Kirk noted FEMA reimbursement could recoup approximately $177,000, leaving the county to plan for timing and for any unrecouped balance.
Kirk said Husker could begin work in October or November. He described field work completed to date (soil cores and site planning) and stressed that the structure was not previously listed as a bridge and should have been identified earlier.
Kirk also presented the first contractor quote for a full-depth stabilization project on Lake Road (about 2.25 miles). The bid includes two options—8-inch and 12-inch cement-treated subgrade—with final depth and design to be determined after pending soil-sample results; chip-seal would follow stabilization. Kirk is soliciting additional bids.
Separately, the director discussed ditch-cleaning proposals from Austin Orton Construction priced as hourly equipment-and-operator rates. Commissioners questioned the contractor's rates as higher than FEMA benchmarks (for example, a quoted dump-truck rate of $150 per hour versus FEMA's $91 per hour) and asked staff to negotiate or seek additional quotes.
Kirk reported ongoing storm-damage cleanup and a tentative plan to begin chip-seal stabilization work the first week of August, weather permitting. Commissioners requested additional time to review bridge documents and the various quotes before making procurement decisions.
