The Larimer County On-Call Bridges Project

Field Engineer Caitlin Kaltenbaugh on her work at Flatiron’s Larimer County, CO project

Tucked away amid small wooden homes the foothills of Northern Colorado, a small but dedicated Flatiron team is hard at work making Larimer County’s bridges safer for travelers.

“I like being in the mountains,” Foreman David King tells me with a smile. “On the hot days we’re under a bridge where it’s cool.”

King and his team of four workers spend plenty of time in the shade from the bridges. Flatiron is currently working on identifying weakened concrete on six piers, and getting it replaced. Some of the county’s bridges are more than 60 years old, and need reinforcement. After work is done on these bridges later in the summer, Flatiron will go to the county’s engineers and say: “What’s next?”

Flatiron’s contract with Larimer County renews yearly. County officials this year will spend up to $2 million, unless there’s a change order calling for additional work. The contract can be renewed up to four more times.

The Central Division won the job after showing the county just how adept Flatiron employees are at bridge repair work. Flatiron has done work in Larimer before, including replacing a bridge on the Big Thompson River in 2019.

“The county was looking for a contractor that could perform everything and anything that they threw at them,” Project Manager Matt Tolsma tells me on a warm day outside the project trailer. “We were able to sell Flatiron for Flatiron.”