Winnebago County Begins Two More Bridge Replacement Projects South of Buffalo Center
posted by Road Department
A pair of ditch-mate bridges south of Buffalo Center will be replaced with box culverts by Winnebago County crews this summer. Construction is underway on the first bridge, with the second one to follow. Each bridge wil be removed and replaced with an 8-foot by 8-foot precast concrete box culvert. The project is expected to take approximately three to four weeks to complete, and each location will be closed to all traffic during construction.
The project locations and statuses are as follows:
Project ID: L-04-N1 Location: On 400th Street between R20 and 30th Avenue Status: Under Construction Cost: $150,000 Project ID: E-34-W1 Location: On 30th Avenue between 410th Street and 400th Street Status: Next Cost: $150,000
Upon completion of these two projects, Winnebago County crews will have replaced 13 bridges with culverts over the past five years. Combined with the four bridges replaced through Farm-to-Market and Federal Aid bridge funding, that brings the total to 17 bridge replacements.
In 2009, Winnebago County maintained 130 bridges. At that time, 37 had fewer than five years of remaining service life, 25 more were posted with weight restrictions due to deterioration, and 3 were closed because they were deemed unsafe. Over the past 17 years, significant progress has been made. Today, the county bridge inventory has been reduced to 34 total bridges, with only 3 posted and 1 closed.
What was once a bridge crisis has been transformed into a stable, durable bridge and culvert system that is well positioned to serve Winnebago County for decades to come.
Written by: Scott T. Meinders, P.E. Winnebago County Engineer
