Farmer detoured by bridge that county says needs replaced

As harvest approaches, one Union County farmer said he can’t approach a bridge near his fields to make his harvest most efficient because of weight limits.

Roger Baker told the Union County Board of Supervisors Wednesday the lowered weight limit on a bridge on 250th Street west of the Pole Road intersection, south of Creston, limits his access.

“Last year I believe it was at 32 ton,” he said. “Now it’s dropped to 20. I wasn’t overly concerned about that.”

After further research, he said, “I can come in that way with a semi empty, but not come back out that way loaded.”

Baker said the original bridge may go back to 1978, has not had any significant maintenance and probably is beyond its intended lifespan.

“I’m one of however many people running into bridge issues that are starting to catch up to us,” he said.

County officials agreed.

Supervisor Ron Riley the county has made some improvements to bridges to either extend lifespan or boost weight limits, but this bridge needs more than improvements.

“In this case, there are two issues; piers and the actual deck,” said county engineer Keith Wieland. He continued explaining how the bridge is showing its age and deterioration. He said the space is not ideal to use a converted train tanker car as a culvert which is planned in other areas. There was not access to a temporary bridge used by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“This is one of the bridges that should have been on the books and ready to replace it,” he said. “The long term fix is we have to fix this bridge.” He estimated replacement cost at $150,000.

Wieland said this bridge is one more than 45 county bridges and structures that are expected to be past their lifespan in the next five years. “This is the beginning of a difficult time. We need to program Roger’s bridge,” he said. “It should have been done years ago.”

Baker said using other nearby roads will still make his fields accessible, but it’s not the most efficient route.

“If conditions aren’t right this fall, it’s going to be one long fall,” he said.