ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

More progress has now been made, and the start of construction could be coming soon on a local bridge thanks to a vote from the Seward County Commission.

Earlier this month, Administrator April Warden announced U.S. Senator Jerry Moran had secured funding for $2.378 million for the Massoni Bridge project through the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill.

Monday, county leaders took another step forward with the project by approving a project programming request from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Community leaders and members have expressed the need for work on the bridge near Kismet, and Warden said a major roadblock to starting that work has been the considerable discussions regarding ownership of the bridge.

“The current bridge is a steel girder-floor beam structure with timber approach spans that were constructed in 1938,” she wrote in a memo to KDOT Bureau of Local Projects Chief Dawn Hueske. “It is in very poor condition and has been classified as structurally deficient. Due its deteriorated condition, load restrictions, substandard width, poor alignment and fracture-critical design, the bridge is in need of replacement.”

In her memo, Warden said the county would address concerns by constructing a new bridge northeast of the existing structure, with the county owning the new bridge.

The engineering consultant on the project, Warden said, will be Kirkham Michael & Associates, adding the estimated construction cost when the THUD Community Project Funding request was made in May 2024 was about $2.97 million.

Warden said Kirkham Michael’s Josh Beckman said the project is progressing well.

“The geologic borings were completed last year and have the geotechnical recommendations,” Warden said. “The bridge design details have also been completed, and he anticipates submitting the updated plans for review by the end of August.”

Monday, Warden said the form needed to be completed in order to receive funds for the bridge from KDOT.

“The reason for this is you have to have a status of the project for their records,” she said. “KDOT records also showed the bridge was privately owned by the railroad. If that was accurate information still, we are not eligible for the use of federal funds on the replacement. We turned in the form to let them know we would be building a completely new bridge, and we notified them of the location where that will happen.”

Warden said the form was completed with the help of Kirkham Michael, and the total cost for the project is now $3.03 million.

“We’ve had a little increase in that two-year period,” she said. “I’m asking commissioners to consider passing the project programming request to the Kansas Department of Transportation, and that will be one step forward in getting to work on the Massoni Bridge project. I’ve told the media outlets I will certainly get information to them and to the public as we have updates on this project.”

The commission voted 4-0 with Commissioner John Mettlen absent to approve sending the project programming request to KDOT.

In her memo to Hueske, Warden thanked KDOT for its assistance.

“We are incredibly excited to have reached this point,” Warden said. “This project has been a priority for Seward County for many years.”

Warden likewise said the county is grateful to Senator Moran, KDOT Secretary Calvin Reed, Kansas 125th House District Representative Shannon Francis and other project partners.

“Their collaboration has been instrumental in bringing us to this important milestone,” Warden said.