County to proceed with stream bank projects

An effort to slow stream bank erosion threatening to undermine several rural bridges in northern Nodaway County will move forward this year, according to the Nodaway County Commission.

The project was briefly delayed last month after contractor bids for lining stream banks with riprap came in higher than estimates provided by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Nodaway County Commission has been working with NRCS this summer to move the stream bank stabilization project forward and feared the high bids would push the effort into spring 2016.

During the proposal’s initial stages, NRCS proposed providing nearly $900,000 in federal funds for riprapping banks near as many as a dozen bridges in various parts of the county in exchange for a $224,000 local match.

Due both to the size of the match and an Oct. 15 project deadline, the commission decided earlier this summer that it would accept funding for only four locations.

Now, because of the delay in granting the contract, NRCS has pushed back the deadline, though South District Commissioner Robert Stiens said much or all of the work could still be completed by early in the new year.

Targeted stream banks include three locations along the One Hundred and Two River north of Maryville near bridges east of Highway 148 on 220th, 190th, and 180th streets. A fourth endangered bridge, bid out as a separate project, spans Norvey Creek on Liberty Road southeast of Hopkins.

The original low bid of $710,000 from Young General Contracting in Poplar Bluff was set aside because it exceeded NRCS’ $602,000 estimate, a total that includes a $150,000 local match.

Since the bid was placed on hold three weeks ago, NRCS officials have determined the offer was justified by actual project costs. Their decision means that funds can be shifted from the original $896,000 allocated for all 12 bridge sites in order to provide more dollars for the four stream bank locations identified by the commission.