Commissioner Frank Moe thanked County Highway Engineer David Betts for getting the very large cement culvert that was sitting near Flute Reed River in eyesight of drivers on the North Road in Hovland removed.
The culvert—in 10 sections— was placed there in 2006 by the highway department, and at one time there was a plan to remove it. However the plan was scrapped when it was estimated to cost $20,000 to remove the sections that weigh up to 13,000 pounds each. Plans to reuse the culvert were also thwarted because it wasn’t the right size for any upcoming jobs.
Moe pressed to have a date set for the culvert’s removal at a county board meeting on November 24, but because Betts wasn’t in attendance, a decision was made at a following meeting with Betts there to have the culverts taken away before spring.
Rusty Johnson of Hovland, a highway department staffer, spoke up to take the culverts. Because the cost to move or demolish the culvert sections was so high, the county agreed to let Johnson haul the pieces off, using county equipment.
Reached after the meeting, Commissioner Moe said it was a win-win situation in light of the major expense of removing or demolishing the culvert sections. Johnson signed a release of liability and accepted responsibility for the concrete culverts.
When asked if the property the culverts were on would remain in the jurisdiction of the county highway department, Betts said yes, it would. But when Moe asked him if the county highway department had any future plans to use the property, Betts said no, and Moe said the two could get together and talk to see if the land could be freed up for public use, which Betts agreed to do.
Sawbill Trail bid lower than expected
Pending review and approval of the contract by County Attorney Molly Hicken, Northland Constructors LLC will repair 8.44 miles of the Sawbill Trail from Britton Peak to the Honeymoon Trail this summer at a cost of $2,553,58.94—$350,000 less than the job was budgeted for, said Highway Engineer Betts.
When asked why the bid came in so low, Betts replied that when the bids were estimated, they used last year’s price for asphalt which was $57 per ton. Today it costs $42 per ton. Betts also said that Northland Constructors was awarded the contract to replace the Devil Track Bridge on Highway 61 this summer, and therefore the company’s relocation costs for equipment could be shared with the Sawbill job.
The contract for Devil Track Bridge replacement was awarded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Northland Constructors will replace culverts, repair culverts, and replace the asphalt and repair the shoulders on the 8.8-mile stretch of road.
Because the money that is left over is in a State Aid account, it can only be used for state aid roads. Betts said he might use some of those funds, along with money in the county’s bridge fund, to repair or replace a bridge on County Road 5—the Ski Hill Road—and he said of the county’s 58 bridges, that 15 were rated “structurally inefficient.” But he added that didn’t mean any one of those bridges was in danger of falling down, but only needed to be repaired or in the future replaced. Most, in fact, are large culverts that are categorized as bridges.
Leave a Reply