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After another construction delay, work has resumed on the County 52 bridge near Beaver Creek.
The project was recently delayed eight weeks while contractors waited for Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials to provide a flagman for the project.
Rock County Highway Engineer Mark Sehr placed the request in early October for an expected November start on the new bridge. BNSF complied with the request in December.
Regulations stipulate that anytime work is completed in the railroad right of way, a railroad flagman must be on site.
During the delay, county workers delivered gravel to the bridge construction site southwest of Beaver Creek in Martin Township, to be used on bridge approaches.
Prahm Construction of Slayton is the contractor for the $1.292 million bridge project.
In the past four weeks, workers have completed the south side cement abutment and pilings and have moved equipment last week to complete the same work on the north side.
“They have tried to work every day,” Sehr said.
Some weather delays have occurred due to the temperatures becoming too cold to pour concrete.
Pending more weather delays, the bridge will be open to traffic in March.
The original woodpile bridge was destroyed in a July 2017 fire and has been closed to traffic ever since.
Sehr first applied for an emergency state grant in 2018 to replace the bridge, but funds were awarded to a higher priority project. The amount of $1.15 million was approved for the project in 2019.
Commissioners approved $388,000 from reserves in January 2019. The county is responsible for cost of the new bridge grade and the supervision costs for the rail line.
The new bridge design will be two lanes with a 10-ton vehicle carrying capacity. The bridge is also larger than the previous span at 29 feet wide and 106 feet long.
The previous wooden bridge had weight restrictions against multi-axle vehicle use.
The first bid letting in May 2019 produced no bids because contractors weren’t available until fall. The Aug. 19 re-bid garnered four bids, with Prahm Construction submitting the lowest replacement amount.