Construction Projects
2025 NE 30 Road Resurfacing Project
Venture Corporation began work on the 2025 NE 30 Road Resurfacing Project on April 25, 2025, and completed the project on May 6, 2025. The project extended from NE 30 Avenue, which is east of Barton Community College, eastward to the K-156 highway intersection. A 1.5” hot mix asphalt overlay was placed on the driving lanes, after which rock edge wedges were placed on the shoulders of the road to eliminate the drop-off along the new pavement surface. Centerline and edge line pavement markings were placed by RoadSafe Traffic Systems. The total cost of this 2.92-mile project was $527,000 and is a continuation of the overlay work done on the NE 30 Road in 2024.
2024 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.
FAS 380 RCB Extensions Project
L&M Contractors, Inc. completed work on a project to widen a Reinforced Concrete Box bridge east of Beaver on Nov. 14, 2024. The RCB is located on NE 190 Road east of the intersection of NE 70 Avenue. 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 were not functional because they were so low. 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.
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 2025 there will be approximately 96 miles of roadway to stripe in the southwest 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. This year’s estimated quantities include 1,007,605 feet of 4-inch white lines, 353,705 feet of 4-inch yellow lines, and 39,208 pounds of glass beads.
OS 156 RCB Extensions Project
L&M Contractors, Inc. was awarded this $88,000 project that will add 6 feet to both sides of the Reinforced Concrete Box bridge approximately ½-mile north of Great Bend on NW 10 Avenue (McKinley Street). Similar to the FAS 380 project, the extra width will allow removal of the non-standard steel guardrail and move the drop-off further from the traveled way. The road will remain open to traffic during construction, which should begin this summer.
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.
