Jasper County to resurface almost 6 miles of F-48 West
Jul. 24—Jasper County Board of Supervisors on July 19 approved a standard services agreement with Snyder & Associates for Highway F-48 West resurfacing project. The county engineer estimates the project will cost about $4.5 million, but the HMA resurfacing should extend the roadway's lifespan another 15 to 20 years.
About $2.9 million of the total costs will be comprised of farm-to-market funds, while the remaining $1.9 million will be federal aid dollars. Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch told Newton News the resurfacing project is likely to begin sometime in the summer of 2023, possibly July or August.
Design proposals submitted by Snyder & Associates show the resurfacing will be roughly 5.8 miles in length, extending from the City of Newton limits to the Skunk River bridge. Frietsch said scope of the project will be milling out and replacing the top layer of asphalt on F-48. It will also assessment the storm sewer system.
Jasper County paid $63,700 to Snyder & Associates for the design proposal. Of that $63,700, Frietsch said $16,300 is for storm sewer assessment design in the first nine-tenths of a mile in the project. There is a lot of work in inspecting and assessing the pipes and other structures.
However, the county is still waiting on a memorandum of understanding with Lambs Grove to pay for a portion of the storm sewer service. Frietsch said he has yet to receive a confirmation from the small municipality located alongside the highway, which is sometimes referred as "Old Highway 6″ or "Old 6″ by locals.
Frietsch said, "If I don't receive an affirmative from Lamb's Grove, my next step is to go to Snyder and just say, 'OK, instead of spending the money on televising and doing all this work, let's spend the money on ... trying to make a more rural cross section, try to eliminate as much of the storm sewer as we possibly can."
At the July 5 board of supervisors meeting, Frietsch said maintenance staff in conjunction with a contractor and a consultant will take pavement cores every quarter mile along the route at the centerline and at the edge. Frietsch said that is "quite a bit of data" the county will pull from the highway.
Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com
