Lyon County Commissioners will be considering bids later this month for a planned bridge replacement that was pushed up the schedule following a collapse earlier this year.
According to Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods, the Highway Department will be submitting bids for building materials to commissioners on August 13 to replace the collapsed bridge on Road 170 over Dry Creek. Woods says the major difference between this replacement and others is the advanced timetable.
The bridge, located near Neosho Rapids, collapsed either late in the evening on February 3 or early morning hours of February 4 closing traffic on 170 between Kansas Highway 130 and Road W. A driver in the area escaped serious injuries after his truck drove over the caved-in portion of the bridge causing significant damage to the vehicle.
Woods says a timetable for construction and the reopening of traffic in the area is pending the August 13 meeting.
With action pending on materials for the Road 170 bridge, another replacement project has recently wrapped up. According to Woods, the replacement of a bridge on Road J over Troublesome Creek is complete with traffic resuming as normal.
The replacement, handled by the Kansas Department of Transportation, was the first “off-system” project the county successfully applied for. In addition to being newer, the bridge is also wider than the previous structure and includes the addition of guard rails which are up to federal code.
The original bridge was roughly 60 years old having been built in the 1960s and Woods anticipates the new structure will be viable for the next 50 years at least.
