Spring snow melt in the Sierra mountains has the Carson River running high in Dayton on Monday.
Between January and mid-April, the Nevada Department of Transportation has issued nearly $15 million in emergency contracts to deal with flood damage from the relentless storms that hit Northern Nevada.
A review of NDOT Board materials for those four months shows a total of 34 contracts approved by Director Rudy Malfabon totaling $14,981,774 for construction and repairs in Washoe, Douglas, Lyon, Elko and Churchill counties.
NDOT Deputy Director Robert Nellis said the state may be reimbursed by the Federal Highway Administration for a significant percentage of the money. Spokesman Meg Ragonase said more than $3 million in federal reimbursement has already been received by the state.
The largest single contract was $3 million awarded to Granite Construction to repair the massive washout of State Route 446, the Sutcliffe/Nixon road between Pyramid Lake and Interstate 80. More than 75 feet of that roadway was completely washed away by flooding in early January. The road was closed until March before it could be fixed and re-opened to traffic.
The next largest contract was $2.75 million to Granite Construction for several road reconstruction projects along State Route 233 in Elko County. Road damage there left several communities including Montello essentially cut off from the world. That contract was issued in February and included work in five different places along that road. That contract is one of five in Elko County. The other four total $1.8 million.
Another $1,365,559 was awarded to Ames Construction to install a dozen concrete culverts beneath U.S. 95 in Churchill County to handle the huge water flows coming from Lahontan Dam. Engineers said that, without quick action, the waters flowing from the dam could wash out U.S. 95. The highway was closed for just six days to install the 6-by-4-foot box culverts.
The next largest contract on the list was $1 million awarded to Q&D Construction to repair Interstate 80 from Keystone Avenue west. The damage, extensive potholes all the way to the California border, narrowed the freeway to just one westbound lane. There are another nine contracts that were issued for Washoe County projects totaling about $2.58 million.
That list includes work on Franktown Road in Washoe Valley totaling $500,000.
Sierra Nevada Construction was awarded the $250,000 contract to repair the Silver City/Gold Hill Road between Carson City and Virginia City, also seriously damaged by flood waters. The road was closed for a weekend. The second Storey County contract was on the other side of the hill on the road connecting to Reno. That contract was for $100,000 to Sierra Nevada Construction as well.
The list includes two contracts on Douglas County’s Kingsbury Grade — both to Q&D Construction of Sparks. A large sinkhole formed on the road in December where a drainage pipe crosses beneath the roadway. The road was temporarily repaired but January flooding caused more extensive damage. That meant two separate contracts totaling $750,000 had to be awarded.
There are eight other contracts in Douglas totaling $205,000. One of those for $100,000 is on State Route 28 and involves not only Douglas but Carson City and Washoe County in the Tahoe Basin.
The list is complete from January through April 11. There are a few other contracts that have been approved since then that will be reviewed in the next NDOT board meeting.