Questions about Black Hawk Bridge closure addressed during fifth monthly “bridge talk”
by Julie Berg-Raymond
The March session of “bridge talks” at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library, held Thursday, March 14 was devoted to answering questions raised by the February 25 closure of the Black Hawk Bridge.
Held the second Thursday of every month from 5 to 6 p.m. at the library, the bridge talks feature opportunities for the community to engage in activities and dialogue with engineers working on the new bridge project. The monthly talks generally draw around 30 attendees; more than 50 people attended the March 14 session. Community members interested in developments with the bridge construction project are encouraged to attend the bridge talks.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), the Black Hawk Bridge (Highway 82) at Lansing was closed Sunday, February 25 because of safety concerns after hearing from the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office of “suspected movement of the bridge.” The bridge is expected to remain closed until at least the end of April while the situation is corrected. During the repair process, portions of the bridge deck will be removed, leaving large gaps in the bridge surface. “The bridge is not safe for pedestrian use and will be closed to all traffic during repairs,” the DOT said.
In the meantime, a free water taxi began operation Monday, March 18, and will carry passengers (but no vehicles) between the Lansing Marina and Big Slough Landing on the Wisconsin side of the river. The water taxi will be in place until repairs are made to the existing bridge connecting the two states (see accompanying story on Page 26 of this week's edition of The Standard).
Conducting the March bridge talk session was Clayton Burke, the overseeing engineer on the bridge replacement project with the Iowa DOT. During his presentation he addressed closure of the existing bridge and progress on the new bridge; repairs the DOT has been working on; and information on the water taxi service. Throughout his presentation, Burke took questions from attendees.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Describing the process that led to the bridge closing February 25, Burke said the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a call from two men who thought something “didn’t look right” on the Wisconsin-side approach to the bridge. The sheriff alerted Burke to the problem that Sunday, at which time Burke and other engineers went to the bridge and “could clearly see that there was a ‘kink,’” he said. “We closed the bridge, for safety.”
The DOT then called an inspection firm, which came out the next morning. They found “the bridge had moved about six inches north-south and had settled about five inches down into the ground,” he said. “Right away we started to figure out how to get the bridge back open, because it’s unacceptable to have it closed.”
“Fred and Mark Rethwisch (of Lansing) are the two men who called the Allamakee County Sheriff’s office about the ‘kink,’” Burke noted. “The Governor’s Office asked us to send thank you letters to Fred and Mark. Their initiative to make that phone call started a chain of events that allowed for the safe closure of the bridge and for us to get started on a solution quickly. I think that initiative should be celebrated.”
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