KDOT announces projects selected under Local Bridge Improvement Program

Twenty-seven counties will receive a combined total of $5 million under the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Local Bridge Improvement Program. Requests for transportation funding outpaced available funds by nearly three times. The selection of the local bridge projects was announced today by KDOT Secretary Julie Lorenz.

“Improving the overall transportation system in our state is important and that includes those structures under local authority,” said Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz. “It takes partnerships between the state, cities and counties to move people and goods as efficiently as possible across Kansas.”

The bridge program was reinstated by the agency this summer to assist cities and counties by providing up to $150,000 toward the replacement or rehabilitation of a bridge on the local roadway system. In the FY 2020 budget, $166 million less will be transferred out of the State Highway Fund. This funding will allow KDOT to perform about $400 million in preservation projects, deliver five more delayed T-WORKS projects and enabled KDOT to reactivate the Local Bridge Improvement Program.

A total of 86 applications from 70 local public agencies were received with requests for $14.2 million in funds. Some agencies submitted more than one application for the program. The total value of the individual bridge request repairs ranged from $150,000 to $800,000.

“We clearly have pent up demand for transportation investments,” Secretary Lorenz said. “If state government can continue to keep its expenses and revenues aligned, we intend to fund this program on an on-going basis.”

This program targets bridges that are 20 – 50 feet in length and a daily vehicle count of less than 100.  Deficient structures, which are longer and deficient structures on higher volume roads, also qualify for funding under the program, but these will be limited to the same state funding amounts.

There are approximately 19,000 bridges on Kansas’ local road systems. About 20 percent – or 3,800 -- of those bridges are in poor condition – or unable to meet today’s weight and vehicle requirements.

The list of counties receiving funding is below. Those with an asterisk indicate counties that also chose to close a second deficient bridge in order to receive an additional $50,000.

Atchison County

Butler County

Cherokee County

Comanche County *

Decatur County *

Doniphan County *

Geary County

Gove County

Greenwood County *

Marshall County *

Meade County *

Montgomery County

Osage County *

Phillips County *

Pottawatomie County *

Rawlins County *

Reno County *

Republic County *

Rice County *

Riley County

Russell County *

Sedgwick County

Smith County *

Stafford County *

Trego County *

Wabaunsee County *

Woodson County

Hot News: Damaged steel bridge girders can be repaired

By Tom Hein, Wichita Public Affairs Manager

In December 2018, a large load struck the underside of a KDOT bridge on K-96 near Maize.

 Extensive damage to steel girders was obvious but the distortions were deemed repairable.

In December 2018, damage to the underside of a bridge on K-96 near Maize occurred.  

In January, a contractor was hired to use a heat straightening process to repair the damaged girders. Steel has a memory and generally wants to go back to its original shape. 

Contractors were hired to repair the underside of the bridge by using a heat straightening process. 

By heating in the right place and at the right temperature, as the steel cools from brief heating process, the metal shrinks and pushes back to its original shape.

Along with using the heat straightening process, other tools like clamps and hydraulic jacks are used to fix the bridge. 

Besides judiciously placed heatings, clamps and hydraulic jacks are used to help influence the return of the steel to its former shape.

The bridge on K-96 is now repaired. 

After seven days of the heat straightening process, the bridge damage has been reversed. 

In a 2008 report, The Federal Highway Administration cited that heat straightening can be traced to the early days of welding. Experiments to reverse distortions by heating steel in specific patterns were successful. Originally considered more art form than a scientific process, the techniques eventually generated wide-spread acceptance through engineering evaluation and research. Today, heat straightening is considered an accepted science and will continue to be used when necessary.

Three bridges in Kiowa County on U.S. 400 set to be repaired, more projects let

PCI Roads of Saint Michael, Minn., will make repairs to three bridges on U.S. 400 in Kiowa County as part of a $706,224 project approved in the Kansas Department of Transportation’s  June 20, 2018, monthly bid letting.

Crews will perform compaction grouting at a box bridge just east of the Ford County line. Compaction grouting is a technique that reinforces soil and stabilizes the ground. This work is to help correct some settlement issues at the bridge.

PCI Roads also will patch the deck and replace expansion joints on a bridge crossing the Union Pacific Railroad and patch the deck of a third bridge that crosses U.S. 54.

A total of 31 projects totaling approximately $9.5 million were approved as part of the June 20 letting. To see all of the approved projects, click here.

A Well Orchestrated Demolition

In London, the bridges might just fall down. But it takes a little dynamite to remove an old Kansas bridge. 

With about 26,000 bridges, Kansas ranks fourth nationally in the number of bridges.  Most of these bridges were built in the 1950s and 1960s.  And since the average lifespan is about 50 years that means many bridges were due to be replaced within the last decade.  Thus, many old bridges have had to be demolished to make way for a more modern bridge.  (Thanks to better materials and design practices, the new bridges are likely to last 100 years or more).  Our staff put together a video of the bridges and overpasses KDOT has had to demolish in recent years.  If you like explosions or orchestral music, this video is for you.