| 833 South 8th Street | (309) 734-8518 |
| Monmouth, IL 61462 | WCHDMonmouth@outlook.com |
| Monday - Friday: 7:30 - 4:00 | www.warrencountyil.com |
Directory
Dewayne Fender
County Hwy Engineer
Jennifer Smith
Engineer Technician
Information
Warren County Highway Department, (WCHD), maintains 173 miles of county highways. Most of the highways were built with Motor Fuel Tax Funds in the 1930's and have since been re-built using federal, state, and local funding. Our system is comprised of various surface types such as concrete, asphalt overlay, and seal coat (oil & chip). Below shows miles of various surfaces:
1974 Surface Type 2005
7 Concrete 7
0 Asphalt Overlay 32
95 Seal Coat 134
71 Gravel 0
A retired employee stated that the county had ½ mile of seal coat when he started in 1946. The remaining mileage was gravel. His maintenance section was over 30 miles, so he bladed roads nearly full time.
In addition, WCHD maintains 24 inventoried bridges on the county highway system. The Federal Highway Administration, (FHWA), defines an inventoried structure as 20 feet or longer in length. These structures, along with 131 township structures are inspected on a regular basis (every 2 to 4 years).
In 1974, there were over 56 functional truss bridges on the township highway system. Most of those were built circa 1900 and had load limit postings in 1974. Today there are four left in the county; three are functional (each with load limits posted), and one has been preserved (Campbell Bridge at Citizen’s Lake).
Since 1977, 97 new structures have been built on the county and township highway system using federal, state, and/or local funding. Bridge replacement priorities are:
1. Safe and expeditious travel of school students
2. Movement of agricultural equipment and products
3. Rural free delivery mail routes
4. Meeting the anticipated traffic needs of the general public
Why mention the township bridges? By law, the County Engineer is responsible for the preparation of plans, specifications, and estimates for all bridges and culverts to be built on the county or road district highways, and supervise the construction of all these. The same is true for construction of county and township roads using Motor Fuel Tax funds.
WCHD owns equipment to seal coat (oil & chip) roads. This consists of an asphalt distributor, self-propelled chip spreader, end loader, rollers, and dump trucks. We do seal coating for the townships and ourselves.
WCHD maintains approximately 900 traffic signs and posts, one third of which are stop or yield signs. Stop signs, at side-roads along the county highways, are our maintenance responsibility. Approximately 350 additional signs are kept in inventory for repairs and replacement. We also install and maintain the 9-1-1 signs at intersections throughout the county. This means approximately 600 posts and 1,200, 2-sided signs. A large supply of construction signs and barricades are in inventory for our use as needed.
Our staff is comprised of the county engineer, his assistant, a civil engineer, an engineering technician, office manager, a foreman, a mechanic, 3 operators, 5 truck drivers, and a maintenance aide. Employee average is over 15 years of experience with us. Many of our employees have prior work-related experience.
Our facilities consist of an office/garage building built in 1986 at 833 South 8th Street in Monmouth. At the same location are three brick buildings, attached to each other, built prior to 1900 that we store equipment in. Also, there is a salt dome, an open-front bin for salt/cinder mix, a loading dock, pug mill and a 12,000-gallon asphalt storage tank. We also have aboveground fuel storage and pumps for gasoline and diesel fuel.
We take bids or quotes annually on all of our maintenance materials including road rock, chips, asphalt, dust palliative, patching material, slag, and culvert pipes. Bids are also routinely taken for items such as gasoline, diesel fuel, signs, barricades, drag blades and motor grader blades. Some items are purchased from contracts awarded by the State of Illinois, Central Management Services such as rock salt and pick-up trucks. Larger trucks and equipment are bid locally.
Services
1. Oversized Load Permits on County Highways
2. Overweight Harvest Permits on County Highways
3. General Utility Permits on County Highways
4. County Road & Bridge Maintenance