Additional work for third phase of F-48 resurfacing includes bridge replacement

With the first phase of the Highway F-48 West resurfacing project already completed and the second phase scheduled later this year, the county board of supervisors earlier this month approved a supplemental agreement with civil engineering firm Snyder & Associates for the third and final phase of the project.

Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch said additional services are needed for the third phase of the project, the scope of which has now been fully defined. In addition to the resurfacing from Colfax to Mitchellville, Frietsch said a bridge needs to be replaced and the nearby curve relocated.

The bridge, classified as Bridge O10, is located along F-48 West near West 124th Street South. Frietsch said the bridge will be replaced with twin box culverts. The bridge resides on a curved portion of F-48 West. He proposed the curve be moved northwest, which would make the final product much wider.

In total, the design services for the project are to cost $209,000. The basic services portion is $155,700, and the additional services portion is $53,300. Frietsch said the funds will come out of farm-to-market. It is a lot of money, he added, but it would likely cost more as two separate projects.

“If we were to do the road design and do the separate bridge design, I don’t think we’d get much better than that,” Frietsch said at the Feb. 4 supervisors meeting.

Supervisor Brandon Talsma said it looked like the curve would require the county to purchase a substantial amount of right-of-way. He asked if Frietsch spoke with the landowner to make sure the designs are acceptable. The county engineer said he has been in contact with the landowner and spoke with him twice.

“We’re locating his tile main right now to make sure we understand where his tile mains are discharging there,” Frietsch said. “He staked that out for us. We went with this particular concept here because that’s what he requested. I gave him two different options and he requested this option right here.”

The county will have to acquire 6.3 acres of right-of-way easement and vacate about 9.2 acres. The project needs a 120-foot corridor.

“We’re not going to get anything back from vacating it,” Frietsch said. “We’re going to pay for 6.3 acres. I haven’t calculated it up yet. But, yes, it is going to be costly. It’s going to be a chunk of change … That road is going to get raised up about a foot on that curve, too, in order to get the box culverts to work.”

When the county vacates the old curve, Frietsch said the road surface will be taken out during the construction phase and then crews will restore the ground back to agriculture land. The concrete will likely be hauled off by the contractor to a landfill or reuse it as riprap provided there isn’t any rebar.

Existing box culverts located underneath the road also need repaired, and Frietsch said the structural design of those repairs is also included in the work for Snyder & Associates. Which the county engineer pointed out is another reason why the design fees are so high for this project.