By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Two county bridges will be replaced next year after the county received two grants.

A 38-foot steel girder bridge on Falcon Rd. between 220th and 230th Rds. was selected by Kansas Department of Transportation for an 80% grant under the Off-system Bridge program.

Most bridges in Marion County are past being repaired, so replacement is needed, county engineer Brice Goebel said.

“It gets to where they are cost prohibitive to repair them rather than replace them,” he said.

Goebel estimated the replacement would cost $550,000 when he applied for the grant.

A steel truss bridge on Goldenrod Rd. between 160th and 170th Rds. was approved for funding under the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement program.

“That’s a fracture-critical bridge,” Goebel said. “That means if any member goes, the result could be catastrophic.”

The program will pay 90% of the estimated $320,000 cost to replace it, he said.

“When that was put in, that was a superstructure compared to the Model As and Model Ts that were using it,” Goebel said.