The South Dakota Department of Revenue recently distributed $8.33 million in Rural Access Infrastructure Fund (RAIF) money to counties statewide to repair and rebuild culverts and small bridges on township and county secondary roads.
The RAIF helps counties and townships inventory their small structures, plan needed improvements, and pay for the cost of repair or replacement. The Department of Revenue makes distributions annually by Aug. 1 based on inventory received from the South Dakota Department of Transportation.
“Since the establishment of this program, there has been great collaboration between the state and local governments to expedite the funding made available by the state legislators and Gov. (Kristi) Noem,” Secretary of Transportation Joel Jundt said. “I applaud them for having the foresight in 2021 to allocate funding to enable the upgrade of these structures that are located within the county and township transportation systems. These funds are critical to maintaining the interconnectedness of the state’s transportations network.”
Funds are distributed in proportion to the number of eligible culverts and small bridges in each county.
To be eligible, structures must be located on fully maintained county secondary or township roads, small bridges cannot exceed 20 feet in length, and culverts or groups of adjacent culverts must have an outlet opening of at least 16 square feet.