Scott County Commission discusses drainage, deteriorating bridges

BENTON — Scott County Commissioners met with Norman Lambert of Lambert Engineering and Surveying, engineer for the Scott County Consolidated Drainage District No. 2, during their regular meeting Tuesday.

"We're just trying to get professional advice to make sure drainage under our county roads is adequate," Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said. "Before we replace any pipes under any of our roads, we consult with the drainage districts so we are not undersized or oversized so we can keep the drainage as good as it can be."

Among the topics discussed with Lambert Tuesday was finding the most economical solution to replace an old wooden bridge on County Road 261 northwest of Oran.

"It's one of the oldest bridges in our system," Burger said. "We can't keep the planks down anymore. We've screwed them down, bolted them down, nailed them down." He said he doesn't know if the problem with the planks coming loose is because traffic is heavier or faster or if it is just because the bridge is so old.

Lambert recommended putting in culverts. "It's going to take three 4-foot pipes," he said.

In order have the bottom of the culverts at the right level and not have a bump in the road, the culverts will have to be elliptical instead of round, according to Lambert.

Based on the width of the road, he estimated the culverts would need to be about 25 feet long.

Lambert said elliptical culverts are more expensive than regular round culverts.

Burger also asked Lambert to look at three county road crossings over Consolidated Drainage District No. 2 ditches.

The approaches to one bridge on County Road 407 close to Highway C in Morley are sloughing in, according to Burger. He suggested this bridge may also need to be replaced with culverts.

Also a culvert on County Road 450 southeast of Grant City appears to be providing inadequate drainage and a culvert is failing on County Road 408 southeast of Benton, according to Burger.

In other business Tuesday:

¿ Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn said the county is expecting to hear from Bootheel Solid Waste Management soon on the county's options for recycling paper from the courthouse.

The county has an allocation of $10,100 from Bootheel Solid Waste Management for recycling.

¿ Burger said he and Joel Evans, county emergency management director, are planning to attend a Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance program meeting with FEMA officials Thursday in Jackson.