Freeborn County is moving forward with repairs to the Freeborn County Road 34 washout, according to County Engineer Sue Miller, with the possibility of the road rebuilt as early as September.

Storms June 11 and 12 caused damage way below the culvert underneath County Road 34 resulting in complete failure, Miller said. The floods created a washout 30 feet wide, which has since resulted in three deaths and multiple injuries.

“Because there was additional tampering with the barricades last weekend, the county will be installing a jersey barrier wall this morning as a secondary, extraordinary protective measure,” Miller said Tuesday.

She and ditch inspector Phil Tennis updated the Board of Commissioners Tuesday with information about flood damage repair efforts.

County Road 34 repairs

The Highway Department, Miller said, applied for Minnesota Department of Transportation funding to assist with the $575,000 worth of repairs needed to County Road 34. The road repair is not eligible for FEMA funds.

MnDOT will participate in the repairs through bridge bonding money, according to Miller, from the Office of State Aid. She said the county could get $450,000 for the entire project, which includes work on a township road down stream.

Miller said work can begin on the project as early as Aug. 15 and must be completed no later than Sept. 15. She said the county has 25 working days to complete the County Road 34 project. A project like this, she said, usually takes 18 to 24 months in preliminary design analysis.

Steve Penkeva of Jones, Haugh & Smith performed hydrologic and hydraulic analysis to recommend appropriate repairs, Miller said.

The existing corrugated metal pipe arch culvert is 11 feet by 7 feet. Due to the location of a culvert down stream underneath gravel 185th Street in Oakland Township, which may not support increased flows, it is recommended that two 6-foot corrugated metal pipes and a double line of 10 1/2 feet by 6 1/2 feet reinforced-concrete pipe arch culverts replace the existing system.

Miller said this would allow for a 10-year storm event and not overload the bridge and culvert down stream.

The project will be open for bids Aug. 4 with awarding Aug. 5 and the possibility of starting construction 10 days later.

In 2004, floodwaters caused damage to the pavement surface along County Road 34 at the same culvert location as the current washout. Miller said the damage was not to the drainage structure itself. Repairs were completed with FEMA assistance to bring the road to pre-existing conditions, per the policy of the assistance.

Ditch damage

More than $100,000 worth of damage was done to the ditch system within Freeborn County by the June 11 and 12 floods, according to drainage inspector Phil Tennis.

He documented repairs needing $92,000, but he said he expects all projects to bring the total up over $100,000. Tennis said 21 projects within the ditch system need work and five are waiting for damage estimates.

“In the next six months we may get some more,” Tennis said. “We know it’s easily going to go over $100,000.”

Work on the ditch system includes all types of repair, he said, with a large part due to washouts and debris removal.

The ditch requiring the most work is ditch J-20, which has $70,000 of damage. The floods in early June created a washout 135 feet long, 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep in ditch J-20.

“Most of our ditches handled it pretty well, but there are some areas that had so much rain in such a short time” they couldn’t handle the water, the ditch inspector said.

The area hardest hit is the southeast corner of Freeborn County. Ditches 71, 75 and 17 were also hit hard by the floods.

Waters washed debris — consisting of soil, crops and other plants — into the culverts, plugging the drainage system and causing flooding in adjacent fields, Tennis said.

He took pictures of all damage for FEMA records, he said. A FEMA official will tour the county with Tennis next week.

Townships and landowners have up to six months to report damage to the county to be considered for FEMA funds.

Tennis said grass strips in place were effective in filtering and slowing the flood waters.

In other business, the county board:

– Approved the first half of 2008 tax abatements. There were 30 abatements total, 12 of which were labeled as “should be homestead” and eight were abate assessments. There were 10 miscellaneous classification or requirement changes.

– Approved 19 tax-forfeited pieces of land for a sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 6. Each parcel of land has been given a market value price and terms of sale. Prices range from $50 to $15,000.

– Approved an extension for the Public Health Department Preparedness grant to continue spending the funds through September. The current grant expires Aug. 9.

– Accepted an award from the Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative, given at the Community Health Services User Group meeting on June 27, in appreciation of 25 years of commitment to electronic data collection and client documentation in the Public Health Department.

– Approved repair and replacement of a bridge on Central Avenue in Hollandale. The storm sewer, curb and gutter along County Road 28 are part of the project and will use $200,000 remaining from 2004 bonding money for flood mitigation in the Hollandale area. Work will be done on the bridge approach grading. The project was open for bids Monday.

– Approved amendments to the bylaws of the South Country Health Alliance joint-powers agreement.

Two-thirds of the 14 member counties must have an approval from individual county boards to allow a capital decision to be made. The joint-powers board no longer has sole authority, based on the Freeborn County approved amendment.