County’s asphalt overlay, box culvert projects ongoing

HARTINGTON – Work on asphalt overlay and box culvert projects throughout Cedar County is progressing, according to an update from County Highway Superintendent Carla Schmidt to the county commissioners Oct. 10.

Knife River of Sioux City, Iowa, was awarded the contract of more than $2.3 million in February for four asphalt overlay projects.

One of the projects the company has been working on is for 898th Road from Highway 81 going east for 1.7 miles near South Yankton, also known as the “Bottom Road.”

This project has included milling the existing asphalt, laying it back down and compacting it for a base, and then laying eight inches of asphalt over the top.

Asphalt work along this stretch of road has been completed, Schmidt said.

“They still have to do the shouldering and the striping and so forth,” she said. “That project’s winding down.”

Another area Knife River is working on is 889th Road from Highway 57 going east to Bow Valley, milling some of the existing asphalt and laying a three-inch overlay.

Patching and milling work is done for the project with asphalt to follow.

Knife River also will work on Kathol Road from Highway 84 south for about 800 feet next to St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery southwest of the Hartington city limits.

This is a new overlay project on an existing gravel road and will include eight inches of asphalt on the subgrade.

“They’re kind of going backwards of what their schedule said,” Schmidt said. “Their schedule said Hartington, Bow Valley and South Yankton, and they went South Yankton, Bow Valley and Hartington.”

The fourth asphalt overlay project by Knife River was completed in June on 559th Avenue from Highway 20 north for three-fourths of a mile past the Randolph cemeteries.

In addition to the asphalt overlay projects, Schmidt updated the commissioners on two box culvert projects awarded to A&R Construction of Plainview in February.

The box culverts will replace two structurally deficient bridges and are part of the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s County Bridge Match Program.

Schmidt said the NDOT’s County Bridge Match Program will reimburse the county up to $200,000 for the two box culvert projects, which have been bundled together.

A&R Construction has started working on a box culvert project southwest of Obert, with the work taking an estimated four to six weeks.

After work is completed, the company will move on to a box culvert project located west of Coleridge.