Smoother ride coming to Dolliver Park

Bridge repair nears completion

OTHO -- Cruising through Dolliver Memorial State Park will be a little smoother and safer soon as a regular maintenance project on the Prairie Creek bridge at the south end of the park nears completion this week.

“It's a pretty popular destination," said Webster County Engineer Jamie Johll. "People like to drive through Dolliver year-round."

Officials from the Engineer's Office put the bridge, built in 1993, on the county's schedule for routine maintenance when concrete spalling became evident a few years ago. Contractors have been working in recent weeks to repair both the deck and concrete underneath the bridge.

"We had some spalling on the deck and we had some issues underneath with rebar popping out," Johll said. "There was a big chunk that fell out."

Epoxy injection repairs were completed on the deck a few weeks ago, but the bridge has remained closed as crews worked underneath to fix the concrete and rebar issues.

A detour has been in place, but many park users have been able to drive through the optional water path to move from one end of the park to the other. For most park users, the disruption has been minimal, according to Park Manager Kevin Henning with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

"It hasn't been closed that long and everybody has been able to get through" Henning said. "We've been pretty lucky. If we keep getting these rains it may get to be an issue."

Contractors worked throughout much of the weekend and are expected to have the work completed by Saturday, according to Johll.

Funding for the project, pegged at $114,899, is coming out of the county's regular bridge maintenance budget.

"We budget a certain amount for bridge maintenance every year," Johll added.

The contractor for the work is Jones Boys LLC, of Floris.