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A bridge on Martins Trail is one of eight wood-top bridges the county is using state bridge replacement funds to upgrade with concrete tops. Five bridges have been completed; the Martins Trail bridge is one of three still in the works. (Ben Kleppinger / ben@theinteriorjournal.com / December 26, 2012) |
STANFORD — Lincoln County Fiscal Court is more than halfway through using a state grant to replace wood-topped bridges along rural secondary roads.
Magistrates approved a $28,098 payment to Kevin Hopkins Concrete on Tuesday for the completion of two bridges on Fishing Creek Road and Ephesus School Road in southern Lincoln County.
Three other bridges on Vic Greer, Sims Branch and Patrick roads were upgraded earlier in the year by Hopkins for $22,895, Judge-Executive Jim Adams said.
Three more bridges on Martins Trail, Fox Spoonamore Road and Norris Road are slated to be replaced as well.
Adams said Lincoln County gets $80,000 from the state every year for bridge replacement as long as it contributes $20,000 worth of labor and equipment.
In past years, the county has used the $80,000 to take on larger bridge projects like one on Robertstown Road and one on Bluebird Lane, Adams said.
So far this year, the county has spent $50,993 of the state funds, leaving $29,007 for the three bridges that haven't been replaced. Adams said if there is money left over after all eight bridges are done, the county will look into the possibility of replacing two more wood-topped bridges.
The bridges' wooden beams are aging and need to be replaced with solid concrete tops, Adams said. The bridge on Martins Trail may be more expensive than the others because of how much it has deteriorated, he added.
For next year's bridge-replacement funds, Adams is eyeing a bridge along Greasy Ridge Road that has had its weight limit lowered by the state.
"We're not even supposed to take our trucks across if they're loaded with gravel or salt," he said.
Depending on what engineers determine has to be done to improve the Greasy Ridge bridge, the total cost could be more than $80,000 and the county may look into additional funding sources or try to combine multiple years of the state funding, Adams said.
In other fiscal court news, magistrates:
• approved letting the sheriff's office take out an approximately $96,000 loan through the Kentucky Association of Counties to purchase three SUVs; and
• re-appointed Dewayne Greer and former judge-executive Buckwheat Gilbert to the Stanford/Lincoln County Industrial Authority Board. Greer was reappointed unanimously; Magistrate David Faulkner voted no on the reappointment of Gilbert.
