By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Walnut and Dry Walnut Creeks wind their way across Northeast 20 Avenue approximately one mile east of the 24th and Frey Street intersection in Great Bend. The result is two small bridges on the gravel road. Tuesday morning, Barton County Engineer Barry McManaman approached the county commission for approval to begin the replacement of Off-System Bridge No. 189.
"This bridge is only 18 feet wide and it has the tall, standup parapet rails on both sides so you really can't get equipment through it," he told the commission. "It's very similar to the one we just got through replacing east of Kiowa Kitchen on East Barton County Road. (That bridge) was actually 19 feet wide. To my knowledge, this is the narrowest bridge we have in the county, and it has an S-curve that's pretty sharp."
McManaman said Bridge 189 has been on the county's radar for a while and was scheduled for work in 2011 before the Kansas Department of Transportation switched to its federal funds exchange program. Work on the bridge was canceled. McManaman submitted bridge applications for several years but was never successful. Through KDOT's Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program, the county can now get some assistance to replace the bridge. Kirkham Michael was the lone firm to express interest in creating a design for the project.
"The concept has been that the bridge would move slightly to the west," McManaman said. "By doing that, we would have the opportunity to smooth out those curves so we wouldn't have such severe curves. In regards to that, the power lines may have to move. If they're located on public right-of-way currently, the law is they have to do it at their expense because we give them permission to locate on public right-of-way."
The commission approved the design work by Kirkham Michael for $74,000. The firm will present three designs, all of which include some changes to the road.
"There's going to be some consideration for the commissioners to give as far as how much roadway alignment we want to have," McManaman said. "We can move the bridge a little bit to the west and maybe it will retain a little bit of its sharpness. The further you extend those approaches out from the bridge, you can start really smoothening it out."
Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger asked McManaman how the changes would impact area properties. McManaman said because the bridge would be moving to the west, the properties on the east side of the road should not be impacted, but some trees to the north of the bridge may need to be removed.