Construction Projects
Bridge replacement project on East Barton County Road east of Great Bend
L&M Contractors, Inc. of Great Bend completed work and reopened the road on May 2, 2024, for the replacement of the bridge over Wet Walnut Creek on East Barton County Road. The bridge is located approximately 1.25 miles east of Great Bend on the gravel road. The old concrete bridge was 19 feet wide and 77 feet long. The new bridge is 28 feet wide and 120 feet long.
2024 RCB Hubguard Repairs
The County Engineer identified six reinforced concrete boxes (RCB's) across the northern part of the county that needed work. The RCB's had failing hubguards along the edges of the road that needed replacement to prevent the roadway fill from sliding off into the drainage channels. L&M Contractors, Inc., of Great Bend did the work.
NE 130 Avenue RCB Extensions
L&M Contractors, Inc. completed work on a project to widen a Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) north of Claflin on Dec. 13, 2023. The RCB is located at the intersection of NE 130 Avenue and NE 130 Road. The existing drainage box was narrow with a steep drop-off next to the road, and it had concrete rails next to the road that had been hit on occasion. L&M added 6 feet to each end of the structure to get the drop-off further from the road to improve safety. The County Road & Bridge crew did the earthwork to flatten out the shoulder slopes in the vicinity of the box.
NE 30 Road Resurfacing Project
Venture Corporation of Great Bend was awarded a 2024 project to overlay NE 30 Road (Juco Road) from US-281 east to NE 30 Avenue. The 1.5" hot mix asphalt overlay on the two driving lanes and both shoulders was done from May 21st through 23rd, a rock wedge along the outside edge of the shoulders was done on May 24th, and the centerline and edge line multi-component pavement markings were sprayed on May 31st. The total cost of the 2.63-mile project was $790,303.70.
No Passing Zones Project
Barton County received a grant from KDOT to have a consulting engineering firm study no passing zones on blacktop roads in the southwest quadrant of the county. KDOT will pay 100% of the costs to determine the proper locations of no passing zones and put up no passing pennants as needed. The work should be completed in 2025.
Annual Highway Striping Project
Barton County bids out the work to paint centerline and edge line markings on our blacktop roads every year. The county Road & Bridge crew does cold mix asphalt overlay work and sand sealing on approximately one quarter of our roads every summer, which then requires a contractor to be hired to repaint the lines. In 2024 there will be around 95 miles of roadway to stripe in the northwest part of the county. The County Engineer provides logs of no passing zone locations and calculates the amount of yellow and white paint needed, as well as the estimated amount of glass beads that will be dropped into the wet paint to make the lines reflect at night. In 2023, on 98 miles of blacktop road in the northeast part of the county, there were 1,000,665 feet of 4” white lines, 485,565 feet of 4” yellow lines, and 33,428 pounds of glass beads estimated to be needed.
Off-system bridge #297 deck replacement project on NE 70 Road
L&M Contractors, Inc., of Great Bend completed the replacement of a bridge deck over Cow Creek on April 4, 2023. The bridge is located on NE 70 Road approximately 1/4 mile west of NE 150 Avenue, or approximately 4.5 miles southeast of Claflin. L&M was awarded the $168,697.50 project that involved the removal of the existing deteriorated steel bridge deck and the construction of a new reinforced concrete deck.
