County Hwy Engineer
Engineer Technician
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.
PLEASE send your FOIA requests to the appropriate office.
This is the Highway Department.
Please direct your FOIA requests to: [email protected]
Instructions for Requesting Information and Public Records
1. Please make your request for records in writing. Warren County does not require the completion of a standard form for this purpose, however
a form is available in the link above for your convenience. To submit the available form electronically you must save it to your computer then e-mail it to the appropriate department below. You may submit your written request by mail, fax, email or in person. If sending your request via email, use FOIA in the subject line to identify your emails as a FOIA request and to reduce the possibility of it being filtered as SPAM.
2. Please be as specific as possible when describing the records you are seeking. Remember, FOIA is designed to allow you to inspect or receive copies of records. It is not designed to require a public body to answer questions. To the extent that you wish to ask questions of a representative of Warren County, please refer to the department list below.
3. Please tell us whether you would like copies of the requested records, or whether you wish to examine the records in person. You have the right to do either.
4. For black and white, letter or legal sized copies, the first 50 pages are free, unless a different fee is otherwise fixed by statute. Any additional pages will be charged at .15 cents per page. Color and abnormal size copies will be charged the actual cost of copying.
5. You are permitted to ask for a waiver of copying fees. To do so, please include the following statement (or a similar statement) in your written FOIA request. “I request a waiver of all fees associated with this request.” In addition, you must include a specific explanation as to why your request for information is in the public interest – not simply your personal interest – and merits a fee waiver.
6. Please include your name, preferred telephone numbers(s), mailing address, and, if you wish, your electronic mail address.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Overview
The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government, and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as public officials.
The principle mandate of the Act provides that each public body shall make available to any person for inspection, or upon submission of a written request, to provide copies of any requested records that are subject to disclosure under the Act. Not all records are subject to disclosure, and the Act provides a number of exemptions.
This Act is not intended to be used to violate individual privacy, nor for the purpose of furthering a commercial enterprise, or to disrupt the duly-undertaken work of any public body independent of the fulfillment of any of the rights of the people to access to information (5 ILCS 140/1).
Response Time On FOIA Requests
All written requests shall be responded to within five (5) working days (5 ILCS/140/3) following the date the request is received, except in the instance when the request is for commercial purposes. (Within 21 working days of receiving a request for commercial purposes Warren County will: (1) provide a reasonable estimate of time needed to comply with the request along with an estimate of the fees which the requestor will be charged; (2) deny the request pursuant to a statutory exemption; (3) notify the requestor if the request is unduly burdensome and allow the requestor to revise the request to manageable proportions; or (4) provide the requested records). The five (5) day count begins the day after the receipt of the FOIA request by the Department Head or designated department FOIA officer. The requester may be notified of a five (5) day extension (working days) if the files are voluminous, at different locations, or if other reasons make it impossible to assemble and mail the request out within the normal five (5) day period.
Denial of FOIA Requests
All county employees are encouraged to provide available information when requested by the public. Information provided or denied under the FOIA, however, must conform to the legal requirements under the Act. Certain documents may be exempt from disclosure pursuant to specific sections in the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/3(g);7;7.5).
When a public body denies a request for public records, that body must, within five (5) working days, or within any extended compliance period provided for in the Act, notify the person who made the request, by letter, of the decision to deny the request. The letter must explain the reasons for the denial, and give the names and titles of all persons responsible for the denial.
Appeal of Denial of FOIA Requests
Any person denied access to inspect or copy any public record for any reason may appeal the denial by sending a written notice of appeal to the Public Access Counselor at the following address:
Public Access Counselor
Office of the Attorney General
500 S. 2nd Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Phone: 1-877-299-FOIA (1-877-299-3642)
Fax: 2017-782-1396
E-mail: [email protected]
For additional information regarding the Freedom of Information Act, please visit the Illinois Attorney General’s website http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov
Questions? Need Assistance?
Call us at (309) 734-8592 during working hours
The Warren County board and it’s subsidiary offices are committed to the principles of equal opportunity and strictly prohibits discrimination against any person on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, creed, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, genetic information, marital status, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status in its activities, admissions, educational programs, and employment.