Jasper County officials anticipate the Elk Creek bridge replacement project will now start in late April once crews finish relocating fiber optic cable.
With the weather warming up, so is construction season, and locals need to plan for another lengthy bridge improvement project that will close a busy stretch of highway late April through November, weather permitting.
Last April, the Jasper County Engineer’s Office kicked off an extensive bridge replacement project on Hwy. F-62 E. between Lynnville and Searsboro that detoured traffic through mid-November. One year later in April of 2026, the Jasper County Engineer’s Office and the Jasper County Road Department plan to start another bridge replacement project, this time replacing the 128-foot-long, steel-beam bridge that spans Elk Creek on Hwy. F-62 E. (between Sully and Galesburg/Reasnor).
Work was originally anticipated to begin on Monday, Apr. 6, but due to the need to relocate fiber optic cable, the start date has been pushed back to late April. Michael Frietsch, Jasper County Engineer, said relocation of the cable could occur next week, and bridge construction could be delayed until Apr. 27 due to the utility relocation.
Jasper County officials explain the current bridge carrying Hwy. F-62 W. over Elk Creek between the highways of T-14 and T-22 was constructed in 1962 according to standards of the time. The current steal-beam bridge with a poured concrete deck supported by concrete abutments over wood pile and concrete piling piers no longer meets today’s standards.
Over the course of an anticipated seven-month work schedule – weather depending – the old bridge will be demolished and replaced with a 201-foot-long concrete-beam bridge with a poured concrete deck that is supported by concrete abutments and piers with steel H-pile foundations.
“The new structure resets the clock and brings the bridge into compliance with current structural loading and stream hydraulic requirements,” said the Jasper County Road Department in a Facebook post.
Once the cable relocation is complete and weather permitting, work on the bridge is estimated to now start on Monday, Apr. 27.
F-62 E. will be closed to thru traffic between Hwy. T-14 and Hwy. T-22 during the time of the bridge replacement project. A detour route for the project includes drivers taking T-22 N to I-80 west, then to IA-14 S. to S. 60th Ave. E.. From there, the detoured route takes drivers to S-74, then south back to Hwy. F-62 E. in Reasnor.
Weather permitting, the project is anticipated be completed in November 2026.
