County Public Works plans culvert grading process

The Whitman County Public Works Department has begun a process to create a full inventory of thousands of metal culverts which cross under roads in the county.

The existing list goes back to the late 80s, with inconsistent records before.

As of now, district supervisors for county roads check culverts informally, while the new effort will lead to assigning a number to each galvanized steel pipe, from zero to nine, nine being top condition.

Depending on rating, the pipes will then be checked every two to five years.

“They’ll go 30-40 years with no visible change, then you’ll see rust or degrada...