Indiana Department of Transportation officials recently met with its contractor in a pre-construction meeting at the Seymour District office to discuss plans for replacing two culverts on State Road 135 in spring 2017.

Removing and replacing the culverts will require complete closures of the north-south highway for periods of up to 30 days each, according to a news release from INDOT.

Olco Inc. of Batesville is the state’s contractor for this $456,642 project to install two new drainage structures on State Road 135 at locations in Brown and Jackson counties.

A 10-by-5-foot concrete box culvert measuring 47 feet in width will be put in place to carry a branch of the south fork of Salt Creek in Jackson County. The culvert site is 5.19 miles north of U.S. 50 and south of County Road 500N near Freetown. Work there cannot begin until April 1. INDOT officials anticipate State Road 135 at the construction site will reopen to traffic by mid-May.

Work to remove and replace the culvert on State Road 135 in Brown County will begin after the highway reopens in Jackson County.

The Brown County structure is located 7.58 miles north of State Road 58 east of Christiansburg Road. A new arch culvert with a 142-by 91-inch pipe measuring 40 feet in width will carry a branch of Hamilton Creek under State Road 135. The contract completion date is June 30, 2017.