GRANTS, NM – On June 25, 2022, the Moquino bridge collapsed due to monsoon flooding. This was the only way in and out of the Village of Moquino. Following the collapse, Cibola County has been working to receive grant funding and to begin rebuilding Moquino bridge, and Compass Engineering is now expected to begin construction on July 22, 2024.
In September 2021, a school bus driver notified the road department of a hairline crack in the Moquino bridge. The road department closed traffic from using the bridge and a bypass road was created overnight for the safety of all using the road.
Projects Coordinator Judy Horacek said, “That is the preparedness of the county. Before the bridge even collapsed, in 2021 as soon as we heard about the hairline fracture on the bridge, we closed the bridge immediately.” As soon as the bypass road was created, County Road 5 became a number one priority for the county. Horacek submitted a Project Feasibility Form (PFF) in May for the bridge.
County Manager Kate Fletcher said, “Because it was the only entrance and exit to Moquino residents. There’s not very many but it’s still [important]… When the bridge did collapse in the water, that night, I remember, we had to put a helicopter on call because we couldn’t get to them if there was a need.”
Following the bridge collapse on June 25, 2022, Cibola County declared an emergency during an emergency commission meeting held on June 27, 2022.
The PFF that Horacek submitted was revised to include emergency information regarding the bridge collapse and the revised PFF was submitted to NMDOT. The county also began working with ACROW bridge and engi- neering firm that was recommended to them by the Department of Transportation. Horacek said, “We had emergency procurement, but we couldn’t do a lot of stuff because we were waiting on the grant funds and the grant funds didn’t end up coming until September.”
She said that the county worked hard to see if DOT could provide the funding earlier, but they were told there was nothing they could do.
When the county realized there was no way they could get the funding sooner, the government began looking at things that they could do that would assist with construction when they are able to begin. Horacek said, “I sent an email to the engineer, and I said, ‘What can I get done now that will help you move this project faster?’ He said, ‘Get the Geotech done for us and get the survey done.’” The county, with emergency procurement, was able to move $97,960.16 out of the general fund in order to complete the Geotech which was $78,887.36 and the survey which was $19,072.80.
At the time the county had an estimate for the entirety of the project, which was $2 million, the county received a grant from NMDOT for $2 million and went out to bid in July 2023.
The county received one bid from Hasse Contracting for $4.9 million. The county receives another grant from NMDOT in December 2023 for $2 million. The county went out to bid again this time reaching out to multiple engineers and changing the requirements for bid.
Horacek said, “Even at the pre-bid conference there were five construction crews there and you could tell they were hungry and were interested.”
Fletcher said, “Usually we do mandated meetings, on-site meetings to be able to put a bid in. This time we took that away, so we are allowing more of an opportunity for others to come and bid.” The county also put the bid out for a longer time to allow for more bidders to come out, the bid opened on February 12, 2024, and closed on May 7, 2024. This time the county received five bids for the project, with Compass Engineering bidding the smallest amount of $2,962,279.31.
On May 23, 2024, Compass was awarded the bid.
Cibola County purchased the new bridge to be used on County Road 5, from ACROW. The bridge will come pre-built and is said to last 75 years. Originally the bridge was meant to be 70 feet long, but upon further inspection they decided that it would need to be 80 feet long.
The total cost for the bridge from ACROW is $452,200.
Fletcher said Cibola County staff have been working hard to make sure they do right by tax payer money and make sure that the money they have received for the Moquino Bridge goes as far as possible. Originally for Construction Management the county received a quote for over $200,000, Horacek negotiated with the company for a lower price and currently they are expecting to pay around $65,000 for construction management. Both Fletcher and Horacek are proud that they are able to negotiate and do what’s best with taxpayer money.
Fletcher said, “It is so gratifying, when we are trying to spend as little as possible. Even from DOT the funding there, that’s still tax dollars it’s still from the state. We need to make sure that we are doing the best thing we can for that amount.” During discussions regarding ways they could make the most out of the money they received they looked at ways in which the county could do parts of the project themselves to avoid paying.
Horacek said, “We did try to see what would happen if we knocked this off and knocked that off. By the time we did that we asked, ‘Now what do you estimate?’ to the engineers, it ended up being more if we even did the work.” Due to this the county decided to leave the bid and not make any changes.
Fletcher said, “So, is it coming? Yes. We’re getting there. It has taken too long, welcome to government. All this money you talk about and all those approvals of this amount. You can’t do anything until you have it signed and executed… It such a hurry up and wait [process].” During this time the county has put in more money and materials into the bypass road to make sure that it is able to be used. Fletcher said, “The road crew has put extra money into the material for the bypass, but we had to do it… Is it the perfect road, no, it’s not the perfect road, but it’s a road that can come in and out until we get a lovely bridge built and I think they will be very happy, and it’ll last longer.”
The road crew chip seals the road and inspects it every so often to make sure that it is still passable but it’s important for the community to access.
Horacek said it’s important that members of the community had notified them about the bridge and continue to notify them about the bypass road. She said, “If the [school bus driver] hadn’t told us that [there was a hairline fracture] what could have happened, somebody could have been on that road. But luckily months before anything happened, we had already closed the road because we took that seriously. I think that’s great management to take those kinds of [concerns seriously].”
Compass is expected to begin construction on July 22, 2024, with the total cost of the project to be estimated at $4,051,570.64.