A bridge replacement project is progressing well in the southern portion of the city of Jefferson.

Greene County Engineer Wade Weiss says the bridge on South Grimmell Road in Jefferson has had the supporting structure of the bridge replaced and the deck was set to be poured. He points out this was all due to the drought that started in the fall and having the Raccoon River that flows under the bridge be at lower levels. Weiss notes that the project details include widening the structure from 24 foot deck to 30 feet and improving the guardrail that leads up to the bridge itself.

“These things are all important. As you move forward we’ve actually retrofitted a lot of our structures as people see around the county with upgraded guardrails protection. Even though when a lot of this stuff was built, there was little or no requirement for approach guardrail. So we’ve been adding it on narrow structures. But this structure we’re actually doing some roadway improvements to bring a super-elevated curve coming from the south going north. This should help people to get around the curve and onto the bridge safely, and we’re excited.”     

Weiss reminds everyone that this is a partnership with Jefferson for the $2,088,602 project. He adds about $1.5 million of the total was fulfilled by the state funds that the city received through the Iowa Department of Transportation City Bridge Funds, and the county is paying the rest while also doing the designing and the inspection as well. Since the project started earlier this fall, Weiss says the project may take up to one year to complete.