What began as a simple safety solution for narrow Kansas bridges has grown into an award-winning innovation recognized statewide. Bess Machining LLC of Hartford recently earned the People’s Choice Award in the Kansas Department of Commerce’s annual Coolest Thing Made in Kansas competition for its pivot sign device, a patented road-sign system designed to improve safety and accessibility.

The bright-orange pivot signs, originally engineered so farmers could move large equipment across narrow bridgeways without damaging road signs or machinery, now serve a far broader purpose. “All they have to do is pull up to these and push them over,” owner Nick Bess explained. “They fall right over either direction, and when they’re done, they can just pop them back into place.”

Since takin

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