Bridges dominate Dawes County’s 1-and-6 year road plan, adopted Wednesday following a public hearing at which no one from the public spoke.

Replacement or refurbishing of three bridges and the removal of one bridge make up the 1-year portion of the plan with replacement of 8 other bridges in the 6-year section.

The bridge slated for removal…the Lemmon Bridge over West Ash Creek…is currently closed. County Road Superintendent Larry Hankin says the wooden structure is rotting with increasing concerns over the stability of the abutment.

One of the three bridges slated for work this year, the Sand Creek Bridge, won’t cost the county anything because Hankin says he’s received confirmation that 100% of the cost will be covered by state and federal funds.

The other two bridges are both on Bethel Road…the Soester Bridge and the Bethel Loop Bridge. The county board Wednesday approved the design for the Bethel Loop Bridge by engineer Larry McCaslin of McCaslin Consulting of Scottsbluff, but also talked with him about expanding his involvement in the project.

They want McCaslin to also be in charge of surveying, material testing, and supervision of compaction work. McCaslin said he could on a per-hour basis, but would need to contract out the actual work. That led the board to ask him to submit his proposal in writing.