Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, January 29, 2015, Page 1

Ringgold County engineer Zach Gunsolley reports the County has been awarded a $1,28 million state grant to replace the high truss bridge located on County Highway P14 north of Blockton.

The bridge over the Platte River, built in 1934, is "functionally obsolete," according to Gunsolley, because it doesn't meet the height and width requirements for the 21st century traffic. He said large modern farm implements have difficulty crossing the bridge, if they are able to at all. In fact, Gunsolley said the bridge has been closed a total of four times in the past 12 months, once because an unknown vehicle or implement struck the top of the bridge. The bridge was closed twice during flooding because debris was striking the bridge supports, causing it to vibrate excessively, and because floodwater war rising too close to the bridge surface. It was closed a fourth time when a car ran off the road and into the river at the bridge site.

The grant will cover 80 percent of the estimated $1.6 million needed to replace the bridge. In addition, because the bridge sits on the Ringgold-Taylor County line, the remaining 20 percent of the project will be shared between the two counties. Gunsolley said Ringgold County's 10 percent share ($160,000) will be covered by federal aid funds, which means that no local property tax revenues are expected to be needed for this project.

Gunsolley said his goal is to replace the bridge during the 2017 construction season. Unfortunately, County Highway P14 will need to be closed for approximately three to four months to allow completion of the project. Detour routes will be designated closer to the beginning of the project.

The state bridge grant sets aside only $2 million annually and all 99 counties must compete for a portion of that amount. The grant program was begun in 1991, but Ringgold County has never been awarded a grant until now. Gunsolley said he personally had tried for three years to secure the grant for Ringgold County, but it seemed he was constantly competing against counties with larger bridges with higher traffic counts.

This year the fund increased somewhat due to reimbursement into the grant fund a county had received a grant in the past but had not used the money. Gunsolley said a total of 25 applications for funding were submitted this year, and Southwest Iowa received two grants, the one in Ringgold and another $2 million grant for Page County for a bridge across the Nodaway River.

"We're thrilled to get this grant," said Gunsolley. "My only wish is that I could get it nine more times," in reference to the cost of repairing or replacing other large bridges throughout the county that need funding.

Photograph courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2015