Rainfall in eastern Minnesota has flooded a construction site along the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa. The construction of a new bridge that will connect Highway 9 in Iowa and Highway 82 in Lansing is now delayed by at least a week.
The rainfall mixed with wetter conditions in eastern Minnesota have led to rising waters along the Mississippi River.
Clayton Burke, the project manager of the new Lansing bridge, said the construction site sits at a lower elevation and once the river rises to a normal level, flooding will happen.
“The water comes up to a normal level in the spring, part of the site goes underwater,” Burke said. “That is challenging in this stage of construction, because the contractors working on some of the deep foundations support the new bridge. So, those efforts are all going underwater right now.”
According to a release from
the Iowa Department of Transportation, the closures won't begin the week of June 17 as originally planned. The closures would have allowed crews to drive pilings into the ground next to the cureent bridge as a new bridge is being built.
The current bridge is 93-years-old. In February, it was closed for several weeks after transportation officials said the bridge moved as construction was underway on the new bridge.
The river is forecast to crest either late Thursday or early Friday at around 13 feet before slowly falling.
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Source: WXOW.com, KTTC.com
