Two bridges scheduled for replacement in the next year or so were cleared for geotechnical work this week by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. One of them was a bridge destroyed by flooding last spring. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the soil needs to be studied to allow for longer structures.

“Both will be 120-foot steel girder bridges with poured concrete decks,” Frietsch said. “The longest bridge we built in the entire package is about 80 feet long and has a steel back wall abutment. So we have to revise our steel back wall pier design for both bridges.”

To this end, the County will contract Allender Butzke Engineers Inc. to conduct soil drilling, laboratory testing, and report the results for the North 107th Avenue West bridge over Mud Creek (Bridge D05) and the South 24th Avenue West bridge over Cherry Creek (Bridge M03).

Bridge M03 was destroyed by flooding in May, as were Bridge M08 northwest of Newton at North 35th Avenue West, Bridge L01 east of Newton at South 12th Avenue East, and Bridge A08 north of F-17 at North 99th Avenue East. All were included in the engineer’s five-year plan.

According to the report from Allender Butzke Engineers Inc., the county engineer knows what the soil conditions are like at the locations of these two bridges. This will allow the county to size the bridge accordingly and then proceed with bidding for the steel abutments for the rear walls of both bridges.

Jasper County shall pay Allender Butzke Engineers Inc. $7,900 for geotechnical services for Bridge D05 and $6,000 for the same services for Bridge M03.

According to county documents, the field survey could be completed within one to two weeks of receiving the permit, weather permitting. The contractor will provide a verbal report of its findings and recommendations within one week of drilling, with a written report following one week later.