County plans project on 
historic bridge near Wyanet

PRINCETON/WYANET — Bureau County is moving toward a multi-million dollar bridge replacement project on the edge of Wyanet.

At Tuesday’s Bureau County Board meeting, the board voted to go ahead with a supplemental preliminary study to replace the historic bridge on the Wyanet/Walnut Blacktop, located on the southwest edge of town. The bridge carries the blacktop over both the Hennepin Canal and the Iowa Interstate Railroad.

Previously, the county board had approved a resolution for preliminary engineering services on the project, at a cost of $207,346, and Tuesday’s approved supplemental study will be at a cost of $71,000. The cost of the study and project will be covered at 80 percent by federal funds and 20 percent local funds.

On Friday, County Engineer John Gross said the Wyanet bridge project will be the county’s largest bridge replacement project in the county’s history. The historic bridge, which was built around 1928, will be removed and relocated to Township Road 271 A, commonly known as the Prairie View Road, where it will replace an existing bridge about two miles to the east of the historic bridge.

“It’s actually a dual improvement,” Gross said Friday. “We will build a new bridge over the canal and railroad and then we also have a bridge which needs replacing over West Bureau Creek. Also, we will preserve and rehabilitate a historic bridge. It’s a good fix.”

The county hopes to go out for bids on the project next June, with construction to hopefully start in July, Gross said. Ideally, the replacement project at the Wyanet/Walnut Blacktop bridge will be completed by the end of 2010, before the winter weather.

The historic bridge will have to be closed and the traffic rerouted during the construction phase of the new bridge, Gross said. The county is also working on emergency mutual aid help from neighboring communities during the construction time.

The new bridge will be a two lane steel plate girder with concrete superstructure. The new bridge will be well able to handle the heavy traffic of the Wyanet/Walnut Blacktop, Gross said.

The relocating of the old historic bridge is planned for the 2011 construction season, Gross said. The historic bridge will be completely rehabilitated and will be suitable for cars and light truck traffic. The county has worked closely with the Historic Preservation Agency on the project, Gross said.