The design process will not change when it comes to replacing the collapsed bridge on Road 170, however, the timeframe will be sped up significantly.
That’s according to Bruce Boettcher of BG Consultants who recently spoke with KVOE News about the design process for the bridge over Dry Creek that collapsed early last month. Regarding a traditional bridge replacement, Boettcher says the entire project — from design to the completion of construction — can take anywhere from two to three years.
Given the sudden collapse of the bridge and its impact on travelers in the area, the county asked BG to expedite the project which Boettcher says they have. With that in mind, Boettcher tells KVOE they are tentatively trying to condense the typically years-long process into a 9-18 month timeframe.
In addition to the project being moved up to the front of the line for BG, another reason for the speedier timeframe according to Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods is due to the county’s decision to handle the work “in-house” rather than going through the Kansas Department of Transportation. Woods tells KVOE News taking the state out of the equation decreases the number of hoops the county has to jump through to get the project underway.
As KVOE has reported over the last month, the bridge in question collapsed either late in the evening of February 3 or the early morning hours of February 4. The original bridge, according to Woods, was a “two-span concrete structure” with the new bridge set to be a “single span steel bridge” which will remove a middle pier that was included in the original structure that “caught” a significant amount of brush and tree debris over the years which he says contributed in part to the bridge’s failure.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more updates on the project as it develops.
