Latest news with #Frietsch
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jasper County acquires concrete for bridge project on N. 107th Ave. W.
Jun. 4—The Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved less than $15,000 worth of concrete that will be poured onto a new bridge deck along North 107th Avenue West over Clear Creek. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the bridge — classified as Bridge D05 — will be about 120 feet long when fully completed. Purchasing the concrete was an attempt to stay below the day labor limit of less than $15,000, Frietsch said. Only one bidder submitted an estimate for the structural concrete. The board of supervisors awarded the contract to Manatt's Inc. for $14,800.50, giving the county about 90 cubic yards of poured concrete. "Our estimate, the engineer's estimate, was $15,750, so they were underneath our estimate a little bit," Frietsch said. "Overall, that's pretty good and that will put them under contract and not count against our day labor limit so we can avoid getting hand slapped by the (Iowa Department of Transportation)." Progress of the bridge work is coming along. "Should be setting the beams here on it pretty quick here actually, so we're getting real close to pouring the deck probably next month," Frietsch said. Newton News previously reported about Bridge D05 in August 2024 and March 2025. Last year, the county paid for geotechnical services on the bridge to determine the underlying soil conditions. Allender Butzke Engineers conducted the geotechnical services to Bridge D05 for $6,000. Earlier this year, the county had to acquire permanent easements in order to move forward with the bridge replacement. Since the steel beam, single-span bridge will be raised about two feet higher, Frietsch decided to try and get a 30-foot strip of additional right-of-way on both sides of the bridge.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Subsurface exploration authorized for third phase of F-48 West project
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways May 7—Before construction crews even begin working on the third phase of F-48 West — which won't be until fiscal year 2027 at the very least — the Jasper County Board of Supervisors ordered soil borings be conducted for the twin box culverts that will be installed along the heavily traveled county highway. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the twin box culverts would be located near the first curve east of Polk County. Currently, the plan is to replace Bridge O10 with culverts. To determine what the underlying substructure is like, soil borings must be collected. TEAM Services of Des Moines will carry out the work. Altogether, the soil borings will cost the county $4,980. According to the contract included in the supervisors agenda, the two soil borings will be drilled to a depth of about 25 feet below the existing grades. The borings cannot be drilled within the stream area with a geotechnical drilling rig. Instead, they will be drilled alongside the nearby stream. The third and final phase of the F-48 West resurfacing project extends from Colfax to Mitchellville. In addition to the road work and the bridge being replaced, a curve will also be relocated. The curve will be moved northwest, making the final product even wider. Design services have already been approved. The county will have to acquire 6.3 acres of right-of-way easement and vacate about 9.2 acres to relocate the curve. When the county vacates the old curve, Frietsch said the road surface will be taken out during the construction phase and then crews will restore the ground back to agriculture land. The concrete will likely be hauled off by the contractor to a landfill or reuse it as riprap provided there isn't any rebar.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County engineer plans to replace more than 20 bridges in the next 5 years or so
Apr. 27—Over the next five years, almost two dozen bridges in Jasper County are planned to be replaced, along with five HMA resurfacing projects, 10 or so pavement projects and a few surface improvement projects, according to the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) secondary roads five-year program. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said all construction projects — replacing in kind or repairing — are included in the five-year plan. Regularly scheduled maintenance work is not included in the plan. He noted the dates included in the plan are when the projects will be let and not necessarily when the work is done. However, there are a number of projects whose accomplishment year has been set for FY26, which is from July 1, 2025 until June 30, 2026. Bridge R01 on East 40th Street South over Reasnor Creek will be replaced with pipe. The Bridge R20 project on West 24th Street South over Buck Creek will be let after July 1 and then be built within the next year. Bridge S33 on County Line Road over a branch of Skunk River is expected to be finished in fall. Bridge C16 on North 99th Avenue East over Little Snipe Creek will be let on July 1, but the materials probably won't show up until summer 2026. HMA pavement is planned for North 51st Avenue East from Hilltop Estates to the Polk County line, which will reinforce the road to handle construction traffic at the subdivision. Bridge S13 on East 64th Street South over a small stream is another local bridge replacement with pipe. Pavement improvements are planned for South Main Street in Reasnor, which was a quote approved last year. A box culvert replacement on South 20th Avenue West is also letting in July. Pavement maintenance is also planned on Highway S-74 South, Image Avenue and Highway T-38 North. Bridge S07 on Highway F-62 over Elk Creek will be let in December or January 2026. The FLAP grant project for improved access to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is being let in June. PCC paving will be completed at South 128th Avenue East near Co-Line Manufacturing, and that will also be let in July. The third phase of the HMA resurfacing project for Highway F-48 West from Colfax to the Polk County line is going to be let in March 2026. "That's what we got coming up in the accomplishment year as far as our program goes," Frietsch said to the board of supervisors back in early April. "...We've got a variety of more projects after that in the priority years. But that's kind of what we got coming up the next year or so here." The board of supervisors approved the FY26 five-year program for the secondary roads department in a 3-0 vote.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Increased secondary roads spending attributed to significant bridge work
Apr. 23—Jasper County is going to spend a few million dollars more than it normally does for the secondary roads department this coming fiscal year. County Engineer Michael Frietsch reasoned the almost $2 million jump from last year is in large part due to the amount of bridges damaged in the May 2024 floods. The county's secondary roads budget for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) was unveiled and approved at the April 8 board of supervisors meeting. Frietsch walked though the revenues and expenditures with officials during a public hearing and explained the secondary roads department has a lot of bridge work planned. "We got a lot of bridges in this number, and we got the bridge in Mingo so that's definitely causing our expenditures to be higher going into '26," he said. Frietsch noted the secondary roads budget presented to the supervisors only features property tax dollars and Road Use Tax funds, so it does not include the farm-to-market account or any federal moneys. The funds are separated into estimated receipts for current year and the next year, and prior actual receipts. The actual receipts from prior years only feature the first prior year (FY24) and the second prior year (FY23). According to those receipts, secondary roads has revenues of more than $19 million in FY23 and more than $20 million in FY24. It is estimated the county took in more than $18 million in FY25. For now, it is estimated the secondary roads department in Jasper County will have more than $19 million in revenue in FY26. "As you can see, revenues are not really increasing much at all," Frietsch said. It is important to note the secondary roads department often has $7 million to $10 million in its starting balance when starting a new fiscal year. When it comes to expenditures, the secondary roads department is seeing a steady increase from year to year. In FY23 and FY24, the department spent more than $10.5 million and more than $10.6 million. It is estimated the county spent more than $11.2 million in FY25, which is this current year. However, expenditures are seeing a noticeable jump in FY26. Budget documents show an estimated $13.6 million is planned to be spent this next fiscal year. "That expenditure is accounting for us cashflowing the bridge in Mingo," Frietsch said. "So that's one of the reasons why that's high. And then we've got a lot of bridge work that we got to do for the bridges that were damaged back last May as well that need to be replaced."
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Engineer's office continues its focus on trainings for staff members
Apr. 22—Additional training was received by the engineer's office to ultimately save money in the long run. Training primarily revolved around AutoCAD, a computer-aided design software developed by Autodesk. The software is widely utilized for 2D and 3D drawings and models in engineering and public works fields. Jasper County Engineer's Office staff were authorized by supervisors to receive custom civil 3D training and mentoring from Rand Worldwide Subsidiary, doing business as IMAGINiT Technologies. County Engineer Michael Frietsch provided the proposal to supervisors on April 8. The two-day training costs $4,680. "A day-and-a-half is more of a standard sort of going over things and then a half-day of going over specifics," he said. "What's going on is as machine control becomes more and more in use by these contractors, the need to make sure our files that we provide them are cleaned up to their level ... is getting higher." Trainings could help engineer's office leadership understand what needs to be done on the front end of various projects. In the end, Frietsch said staff will be able to provide a product to a contractor and not have to pay more money to an outside consultant or survey company to clean it up. "That's kind of the goal is to help us understand what we need to do to be able to get a clean file out the door and ready to use by the contractor," Frietsch said. Supervisor Brandon Talsma asked Frietsch if he felt the training was worth the investment. Frietsch said yes, and he noted the training is not something his office would pay for or solicit for every year. The engineer's office has not done any formal training in the three-and-a-half years he has been here. He said, "This will be a worthwhile thing for each of the guys and myself to kind of go through so that we know what we're looking at and know what we're doing." The secondary roads department has now received at least two different types of training in the past few months. In February, the board of supervisors hired a company to carry out multi-day, hands-on motor grader training. Altogether, that training cost less than $20,000 for secondary roads staff.
