HURON ­— Beadle County Highway Supervisor Merl Hanson presented the 2021-2025 highway and bridge improvement plans to the Beadle County commissioners and a handful of county residents in attendance during the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday morning.

The county has 132 total bridges between bridges on township and county roads within the county. Of those, only seven are currently closed, all on township roads. The average age of a bridge in Beadle County is 75 years old.

Hanson reported that utilizing the Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) program, the county has been able to line up seven bridges this year in that program for funding. Overall, the county has 17 bridges that are on the replacement schedule over the next five years.

“The county can not afford to pay for many of these bridges on our own with current costs,” Hanson said. “We have to look for grants, and that is what we’ve done.”

Commissioners heard from Kim Eichstadt, Director of Equalization, regarding using Eagle View for flyover services to save the county needing to drive throughout the county to examine for removed structures or newly-built structures that have not been reported. This will cost $49,000, which is in the department’s budget for 2020 and will be scheduled for spring of 2021.

Commissioners also convened as the Beadle County Board of Adjustment to review a variance request from Brian Crandall of Wolsey to build a garage on the property line. Eichstadt reported no objections to the variance, and the commissioners approved it unanimously.