Two road construction companies last week submitted bids to convert three Owensville-area roads from gravel to a hard surface.

Gasconade County’s consulting civil engineer Paul Winkelmann of Howe Company Engineering Thursday morning opened the proposals submitted by Capital Paving & Construction and West Contracting to cover the gravel with a chip-and-seal coat for Old Highway 19, City Cemetery Road and Tappmeyer Road.

The projects will be funded with a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG) of about $500,000 obtained last year by Gasconade County government through the state government. Former Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, was instrumental in applying for and advocating the approval of the grant, which was facilitated through Meramec Regional Planning Commission.

Capital submitted the apparent low bid of $404,775 while West Contracting offered to do the work for $459,766. The engineer’s estimate for the work was $465,000. The bids will be evaluated by the engineering firm and a recommendation will be made to the County Commission as to awarding a contract for the upgrade to the roads, which is scheduled to be complete by July 15.

In other matters during Thursday morning’s Commission session held in Owensville City Hall, county administrators said rainfall expected this week should make it easier to resume maintenance of the county’s gravel roads.

“It’ll be better for grading now,” said Southern District Associate Commission Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville. For the past several weeks, dry weather has made roadways too difficult to grade. Moisture loosens the ground making it easier for graders to spread gravel and smooth the surface.

On another road-related matter, Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, reported that he has been in talks with a company conducting clay-mining operations regarding damage to roads resulting from the travel of trucks loaded with material. Holland said he felt better about the company being more aware of the potential damage to roads after a 45-minute talk.

“It was a good conversation,” he said.

There are several clay-mining sites throughout the county. Damage to county — and state roads, as well — from the loaded dump trucks has long been a concern to local government officials. Members of the County Commission have held out the prospect that a bond might be required of the trucking companies if the damage to roads continues to occur.

On another county road matter, Neal Traub of the Stony Hill area again appeared before the Commission to ask about the status of the proposed chip-and-seal of Stony Hill Road. Area residents have been asking to have a chip-and-seal surface applied for about three years, Traub said. Holland replied that the Stony Hill project is “right up there at the top” of the list of roads targeted for an upgrade.

However, Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, advised Traub that work converting gravel roads to hard surface has been sidelined to allow work to be done by Road Department crews on other, more pressing, matters.

“Try to be patient; we understand your needs,” Schulte told Traub. “Our culvert piping, our ditching and our trees (along the roads) haven’t been maintained for a long time,” he added. Indeed, 2024 ended with at least 100 new culverts being installed throughout the county’s 200-plus-road system. That compares with about 20 culvert replaced in 2024, officials said.

The cost of covering a gravel road with a chip-and-seal coating is about $100,000 per mile, which includes the road materials and the work needed to prepare the conversion. Gasconade County in past years usually identified two to three roads for a chip-and-seal upgrade.