District 3 commended for Idaho 55 repair
On a late Sunday afternoon in July, a 20-foot section of Idaho 55 about a half-mile west of Marsing washed out because of a failed culvert under the roadway.
A few days after the project was completed and the highway reopened, the South Board of Control (irrigation district) sent a letter of appreciation to District 3 Engineer Dave Jones. The Caldwell and Marsing maintenance sheds (Ken Couch) were heavily involved with the repairs, as was Dave Dansereau and the district’s Special Crew.
“… the South Board of Control would like to thank the ITD for the installation and use of the 4-foot diameter concrete pipe and allowing for extra distance on each side of the crossing.
“Due to your dedicated employees and professionalism of proper installation, this should last as long as the highway is in place. I am sure the ITD was getting flack for the extra time involved, but installing this correctly now is a benefit to our district and the years to come.”
ITD crews used a reinforced concrete pipe made specifically for deep installations. To handle greater water-flow volumes, the new culvert was manufactured 48 inches in diameter rather than the 36-inch diameter of the corrugated metal culvert that failed.
In excavating for the replacement, crews unearthed an even older pipe that evidently had been left in place and just crushed when it had failed decades earlier. Crews needed to remove the older pipe as well, rebuild the roadway base with fill material, grade, compact and repave the roadway before reopening.
The road was repaired and reopened on Aug. 4.
Published 8-26-2011