Commissioners press road department on bridges, millings, graders; permit BNSF to remove obsolete advance-warning lights

At their Sept. 2 meeting, Treasure County commissioners and road staff focused on maintenance of county bridges and roads and on coordination with BNSF Railway over aging crossing equipment.

Road staff reported a cracked or damaged bridge deck and discussed several repair options: replace the cracked plank, weld a diamond-plate steel overlay, install thicker bridge planks, or pour concrete. Staff warned that metal overlays could be slick in winter; concrete would be more durable but costlier to haul and install. Commissioners asked staff to price concrete, steel plating and plank replacement and to check existing piles of bridge pine for possible reuse.

The board also heard that washboarding and loose millings in recently treated sections left some segments with loose gravel that had not been sufficiently compacted. Staff described attempts with cold mix and compacting with the grader; commissioners discussed whether to pursue hot mix applications in problem spots or to salvage millings for other local uses while weather permits.

Equipment replacement came up in a longer discussion of graders and dump trucks. Staff and a commissioner contrasted the older John Deere grader's parts availability with difficult parts access for an older Volvo machine, weighing short-term value against long-run maintenance risk. Commissioners asked staff to develop an equipment strategy that considers trade-in value, grant-match options through Department of Commerce programs and the county's longer-term staffing capacity.

Separately, Ty Zinda, signal supervisor for BNSF Railway, explained that two small advance-warning LED lights near the Bench Road crossing are no longer powered by BNSF following a signal upgrade. He asked the county's permission to remove those county-owned lights to avoid maintenance problems. A commissioner moved to authorize removal contingent on receiving written permission signed by the commissioners; county staff agreed to prepare and email the permission to BNSF and to coordinate a diagnostic walk-through.

What happens next

Road staff will: (1) return with cost estimates for bridge repair options and for precast concrete cattle guards; (2) propose a plan to address loose millings and washboarding; and (3) draft an equipment-replacement plan tied to grant possibilities and vehicle sale/bid procedures. County engineering will prepare the written permission for BNSF to remove the decommissioned advance-warning lights.