County agrees to apply for BIG funding

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HURON – Beadle County commissioners have adopted resolutions authorizing the submission of applications for state Bridge Improvement Grant funding for three more bridges as they work with engineers on a long list of other bridge repair and replacement priorities.
Adam Polley and Steve Myer of Clark Engineering, who met with commissioners Tuesday, said they inspected 84 of the county’s 126 structures this year. They inspect a certain number of bridges each year in an ongoing rotation.
The average bridge replacement cost is $630,484 and the total replacement cost is estimated at $35.9 million.
The engineers told commissioners 72 of the county’s bridges are in good condition, 22 are in fair condition and 32 are in poor condition.
Those in poor condition, often located on minimum or no maintenance roads and built 100 years ago, are nearing the end of their useful life and should be closed, they said. If left open, some should be posted with stricter load limits.
Resolutions adopted by the commissioners call for applications to be submitted to Pierre for grant funds for one new bridge and preservation grants for two others.
The bridge they want to replace is located one mile east of Wessington over Cain Creek. If state funds are approved, the county would be responsible for a 30 percent match.

The two bridges to be repaired, with a 20 percent county match, are located 2.5 miles east and six miles south of Huron over the James River and 1.5 miles north and 6.4 miles west of Yale, also over the river.
Commissioners also heard recommendations from the engineers pertaining to strategies the county may choose to employ in applying for bridge grant funds to maximize the dollars. One is known as a bid ready approach that would give the county the most bang for their buck, Myer said.
In his presentation, Polley shared the engineers’ recommendations in what needs to be done to repair a number of the bridges.
Those they believe should be closed have problems such as a poor condition of timber girders and timber substructure, severe deterioration with exposed rebar and concrete deterioration. One is in such poor shape that board chairman Tom Hansen, when he saw photos of the bridge, joked that he wouldn’t even want to walk on it.
Meanwhile, commissioners also renewed their intergovernmental agreement with the CodeRed Emergency Notification System, in which authorities can send out mass phone calls or texts in the event of an emergency such as a missing person.. The city of Huron also has a contract with CodeRed.
Those who no longer have landlines and aren’t listed in the telephone book are encouraged to consider signing up their cell phone number in the CodeRed system to get emergency information. They can do so by visiting the Beadle County website and clicking on the CodeRed link.
Commissioners also approved a moving permit filed by Collin and Doris Knudson to move a 10-by-12-foot shed to 40508 South Shore Road at Lake Byron.