Black Hawk Bridge closed to inspect structural integrity ...
Photo by Susan Cantine-Maxson.
Submitted photo.
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) closed the Black Hawk Bridge (Highway 82) at Lansing Sunday afternoon, February 25 due to safety concerns after discovering suspected movement of the bridge following the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department notifying DOT officials that something “didn’t look right” (the bend in the guard rail structure on the right side of the photo below providing the most visible evidence of the concerns on the east approach to the bridge from the Wisconsin side). Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick said the Allamakee County Dispatch Center received a call early Sunday afternoon from a Lansing resident, who had been contacted by another individual and then took their own look at the bridge before calling the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Mellick said a Deputy traveled to the bridge and then requested that DOT officials be contacted after witnessing what the photo below shows.
“We have confirmed the bridge has moved and engineers from the Iowa DOT and other agencies are currently on site investigating to see exactly what is happening, including if construction of the new bridge played a part in the movement,” Pete Hjelmstad, Field Services Coordinator for the District 2 Office of the Iowa DOT in Mason City, shared Monday, February 26. “At this point we do not have a timeline as to when or if the bridge will re-open. We will not open the bridge until we are sure it is safe for the traveling public.”
DOT officials and other agencies were at the bridge throughout the day Monday, February 26 conducting their inspection. The DOT had placed monitors on the Black Hawk Bridge before construction of the new bridge started and officials say they are using data from those monitors in their investigation. No further update has been issued and the bridge remained close as of the Tuesday morning print deadline for this week’s edition of The Standard. Motorists should plan to use an alternate route, crossing the Mississippi River at either Prairie du Chien, WI or La Crescent, MN, with Iowa DOT officials saying they will provide further information as soon as they have it available.
