The Washington County Supervisors approved a bridge replacement project near Kalona at their Tuesday meeting. 

 Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius gave more details on the plan, “Bridge replacement project on 110th Street, northwest of Kalona, near Helmuth Repair. We had a letting through the Iowa DOT back on July 15th, so bids have been received and reviewed, and then we go over the contract. We are replacing an existing 125’ by 20’ concrete slab bridge with a 130’ by 30’ concrete slab bridge. It will be a little longer and a little wider to allow a little bit more water to go through in big rain events. And the width will help with traffic to be able to meet on the bridge, essentially now it is a one-lane bridge. Also currently posted at 28 tonnes, and so it’s restricting traffic and that will remove that restriction. To make life easier for everybody in that part of the county.”  

The bid for the project that was approved by the Supervisors was for $857,116.90 and was awarded to Iowa Bridge and Culvert LLC of Washington. There were four total bids for this project with the county estimate for the project being closer to $1 million. The projected late start date of the project is next July, but Thorius was hopeful that the project would begin this fall once the contract is signed.