By Emma Loura/Manhattan Mercury
Work on Fancy Creek Bridge is complete.
John Ellermann, the public works director and county engineer, told Riley County commissioners on Monday that the Fancy Creek Bridge west of Tuttle Creek Boulevard is open for business after a 90-day bridge replacement project.
“The bridge finished, the road opened up and graveled in the last couple weeks so we’re all open to traffic,” Ellermann said.
An upcoming project is the replacement of the culverts on Winkler Bridge and Kitten Creek Bridge by Olsson and Associates. The company is currently working on easements. Ellermann said the box culvert replacement has been on the sales tax list for a while.
Ellerman also said the public works department has positions open for a traffic control tech, a facility tech, a custodian and a purchasing agent.
The county commissioners unanimously approved and signed the agreement with Schwab-Eaton, an engineering and design firm, for bridge inspections in the amount of $4,950.
These are interim inspections, done either once a year or every other year. Three bridges are to be inspected. The South Otter Bridge is to have a routine inspection. For the new bridge on Fancy Creek, it is an inventory bridge inspection. As for the Swede Creek Bridge, it is a fracture critical inspection as well as a routine inspection.
Brittany Phillips, budget and finance officer, presented a list of critical needs projects under consideration for the county’s capital improvement plan.
Another item on the list is repairs to Pottorf Hall in CiCo Park. The settling of the building’s foundation has caused cracked walls and uneven floors. Proposed repairs involve driving push piers around the building foundation to lift the building to its original position. It will cost $250,000.
“I don’t know about the Pottorf Hall one,” said John Ford, commission chairman. “I guess for me, it’s the time from how long it is going to take to just replace it. It’s 60 years old. At some point in time we’ve got to discuss that, if it’s going to take four to five years to correct.”
Ellerman said it is the same type of system that would hold up bridges and that it should be effective.
Ford said considering the building’s age and the foundation problems it has, Pottorf Hall may have served its purpose, and the county should consider a replacement.
“I think it’s served its purpose,” Ford said. “If you’re going to spend $250,000 here you may as well set $250,000 aside and start planning for that.”
The county commission amended the CIP list, removing Pottorf Hall and then unanimously approving the rest of the list. Commissioners plan to discuss Pottorf Hall further at a future meeting.
