Cavalier County wins $568,761 for County 55 engineering; hires KLJ for bridge inspection

Cavalier County officials told the Board of Commissioners on April 16 that the county was awarded $568,761 in North Dakota Department of Transportation Flexible Road Funding to complete preliminary engineering for the County 55 gorge project.

Jeff Daley of KLJ Engineering told commissioners the funding would make the project shelf-ready for future grants and help set ditch grades for eligibility with ER funding. Daley said a committal letter from the state will arrive and the county will be asked to accept or reject the award.

Daley also told the board the Mt. Carmel Dam access road application for Flexible Road Funding was unsuccessful. Commissioners discussed the timing of a County 6 overlay project and whether to add County 17 from Wales to U.S. Highway 5 to that program.

Because a bridge north of Hannah needs inspection before an overlay can proceed, commissioners approved a contract with KLJ to inspect the bridge and complete a load rating (motion by Stanley Dick, seconded by Greg Goodman; motion carried). KLJ later appears on the approved claims list with an invoice for $900.00 to Road & Bridge, listed among the meeting's presented claims.

No dollar amount for the KLJ inspection contract was recorded in the minutes beyond the claims listing. The county’s next step is to consider the committal letter and schedule work to advance preliminary engineering if the county accepts the Flexible Road Funding.