Bridge project near Hartington nearly done

HARTINGTON – Construction on a bridge replacement project near Hartington is coming close to a conclusion.

Carla Schmidt, Cedar County’s highway superintendent, said guardrails are likely going to be installed soon, if not already, and Herbst Construction Inc. of rural Le Mars, Iowa, also will be “doing some final grading” on the project.

“Then they'll have to do the seeding,” Schmidt said, adding she did not have a projected opening date for the bridge. “It's very near the end.”

The projected time period for work on this project had been set for January-May 2024. However, the project got about a month-early start with Herbst Construction starting in early December to dismantle the bridge that had crossed over the Bow Creek on 883rd Road about 1.25 miles east of Hartington.

Schmidt previously described the old crossing – a 100-foot-long pony truss bridge built in 1973 out of concrete and steel – as “structurally deficient.”

The new crossing will be a 130-foot-long, 28-foot-wide concrete-slab bridge that will have no weight limit.

The $1.1 million project was bundled with another project in Knox County because the new crossings will be similar structures. The project qualifies for $250,000 reimbursement by the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s County Bridge Match Program.

Two box culvert projects to replace two structurally deficient bridges one near Obert and the other west of Coleridge - have been completed, and also will be reimbursed up to $200,000.

“They're done – completed and open,” Schmidt said. “They've been open for a while.”