Watch for E-57 bridge to open this week
A busy year for the county secondary roads department is finally winding down, with extra maintenance on the “unofficial” detours around the Iowa DOT’s overpass project at Grand Junction, extra maintenance on paved and gravel roads needed because of construction of the Beaver Creek Wind Farm, and three bridge construction projects.
The county engineer’s office also served as project manager when the new bells were hung on the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower last spring.
The bridge on County Road E-29 (210th St) just east of Highway 30 in Kendrick Township over Otter Creek opened on Thursday. The road has been closed since August for construction of a new bridge. County engineer Wade Weiss said the remaining lane markings will be painted as weather allows.
The wider, safer bridge is reminiscent of the original Lincoln Highway 30 bridge, with concrete railings and Lincoln Highway emblems on both ends.
Also, county engineer Wade Weiss expects the bridge on County Road E-57 east of K Ave over Greenbrier Creek in Greenbrier Township to re-open mid-week. That bridge was in the construction plan for 2018, but the project was moved up a year after a Pepsi truck driver crashed into the bridge last December. The engineer’s office now refers to the bridge as “the Pepsi bridge.”
The first bridge project of the year, “the Hyde Park” bridge on County Road N-65 (D Ave), also in Kendrick Township, was completed in September.
