Alva Review-Courier -

If you've traveled on Highway 8 nearly eight miles south of Kiowa, Kansas, and approximately three miles west and one half north of Burlington, you've felt "the dip" as you cross the bridge. The structure in need of repair goes across the Driftwood Creek.

Wayne Roesner, bridge manager for District 6, said this bridge reconstruction project is a special circumstance regarding how motorists get through the construction area.

"We would have liked to build a shoefly off side alignment for the creek road," Roesner said, "but Driftwood Creek doesn't allow that." Explaining, he spoke of the flooding in the area when it rains. He mentioned when several years ago they did a bridge a few miles further east on that creek, flooding washed out their tin horns and they were standing on end.

"So we decided to do one half at a time," Roesner said. "The bridge still has enough piling to hold up a single lane of traffic."

The single lane has a restricted width due to the barrier wall. Therefore, no wide loads are allowed. Roesner said wide-load operators need to find an alternative route.

When the bridge is finished, Roesner said it will be a noticeable improvement. The new bridge will have two 12-foot lanes with 8-foot shoulders. That's a total of 40 feet, he said. The new bridge will have to be raised some, he said.

"We have 300 calendar days set up for this project," Roesner said. "The way we are having to do it is slow."

Speaking of slow, the stop lights at the site seem to stay red much longer than needed when there is just one car and no other vehicles in sight. When asked about it, Roesner said the lights are set up on a timer based on maximum daily traffic.

Roesner said L&M Contractors of Great Bend, Kansas, is doing the project. The cost is $2,388,858.