County inks agreement with Howe Engineering for Rohlfing Road bridge

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent

Posted 12/6/23

HERMANN — The paperwork has been signed clearing the way for Howe Engineering of Macon to be the civil engineer on the construction of a new bridge on Rohlfing Road.

The documents were …

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County inks agreement with Howe Engineering for Rohlfing Road bridge

Glen Englert removes a built-in shelving unit from the Gasconade County Courthouse Commission’s meeting room with help from B&M Lawn Care staff on Thursday. The unit, believed to have been constructed in the 1930s, was moved to a second-floor office space used by juvenile court staff. Removal was necessary to make room for election equipment which is being relocated from its storage site adjacent to the Commissioner’s room to make room for an elevator which is being installed. County Clerk Lesa Lietzow said she regrets losing the storage space but did not want to see plans for an elevator scrapped after waiting 30 years for one to be installed. Her predecessor, the late Roger Prior, had first made the pitch for an elevator when he served as clerk.

Photo by Dave Marner

Posted Wednesday, December 6, 2023 12:00 am

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent

HERMANN — The paperwork has been signed clearing the way for Howe Engineering of Macon to be the civil engineer on the construction of a new bridge on Rohlfing Road.

The documents were signed during last week’s Gasconade County Commission session. Howe’s bid to perform the work was for a total of $144,000. This is a BRO (Bridge Replacement-Offsytem) Program span with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) providing a portion of the funding.

The plan calls for the existing bridge to remain in place with the road being realigned to allow construction of the new bridge. Shannon Howe told the Commission the engineers would design a two-lane span 24 feet wide. MoDOT will approve all aspects of the design work, he added.

Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, said he wants to ensure the new bridge will be able to carry traffic during times of high water, noting that the creek it will cross floods mostly with backwater.

“We’ll look at everything from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) maps to (the effects of) a large rainfall event,” Howe said. “It’s something that’s very straightforward for us to do, but it’s going to take a while to check all the boxes,” he added.

The project is not going to be done quickly, Howe cautioned, pointing out the project will take a while to design with construction beginning later in 2025. Howe said he projects the construction bid opening for the project to be perhaps in July of 2025 with construction starting in August.

“So we won’t be done with this in ‘25?” asked Lairmore.

“No,” said Howe.

In other matters taken up last week by the Commission, a measure seeking a 25-miles-per-hour speed limit on Holzschuh Road will be forwarded to the Missouri Highway Patrol. The speed limit has been requested by the residents along the county road.

“Once the state sets it and we agree with it, it has to be posted,” Lairmore said. “Then it becomes enforceable.”

Unless otherwise posted, the speed limit on county roads is 50.

A pre-construction conference between Archer-Elgin engineers, county administrators and Franklin County Construction is set for Thursday, Dec. 14, about the upcoming installation of an elevator in the courthouse.