Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE WASHOUT, where Parker's Creek flooded County A during the July 11 storm, is expected to be repaired within the next month or two after the Iron County Highway Committee approved an agreement with the state of Wisconsin to get the road fixed using emergency funds.
HURLEY - The Iron County Highway Committee authorized an agreement with the state of Wisconsin that will allow repairs to the portion of County A in Saxon washed out during last week's storm to begin as soon as possible.
"Looking at A and the urgency of getting down to the harbor, last Tuesday we started asking questions if we could run it through our emergency let so we could get it done and out the door, designed quicker," Nick Vos, with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Rhinelander office, told the committee.
The agreement says the county will repay the state for the cost of the project once it receives federal assistance money.
"It's not a penny out of your pocket," he said.
The project won't involve repairs to the bridge and portion of the road closer to Saxon Harbor damaged in the July 11 storm, it will simply fix the culvert washout at Parker Creek.
According to information presented at the meeting, the project will mortar a concrete culvert to the exposed bedrock.
The new culvert will be 137 inches by 87 inches, roughly the same size as the previous culvert - the biggest option looked at - but Vos said concrete allows water to flow through it more efficiently.
"The hope is, you may lose - if you have another 400 year storm - you may lose the road again, but hopefully the pipe will still be there."
Vos said preliminary planning work has been completed and the project was put out for bid Tuesday. The plan is to award the bid Thursday.
Vos said the project is scheduled to be up to gravel by Aug. 13 with the final work being completed by Sept. 10.
The project is expected to cost roughly $750,000, according to information presented at the meeting.
The repair to County A qualifies for emergency assistance from the federal highway department, Vos said, because of its size classification.
Earlier in the meeting, the committee also approved a petition for aid through the Disaster Damage Aid Program, a key requirement to ensure the repair to County B qualifies for funding help.
While costs are still being calculated, Iron County Highway Commissioner Mike Swartz provided a ballpark estimate for the repairs to county roads.
Swartz said, County A alone could cost $2.25 million, with the repairs to County B costing another $150,000 to $200,000.
According to information released by the county in the week since the storm, town roads in Kimball, Anderson, Saxon and Gurney could add roughly another $705,000 in damage.
