Iowa County, like many rural counties around the state, is packed with an extensive network of bridges that’s expensive to maintain.

The state’s grid-like roads over diagonally running creeks and rivers lead to a lot of crossings, and many timber bridges of the 1950s are due for replacement, Iowa County Engineer Nicholas Amelon said. Based on federal standards, 130 of the county’s 206 bridges are due for repair or replacement, he said.

Iowa County’s problems are emblematic of years of struggles across the state to keep up with rural bridges — struggles a new report Tuesday shows continue.

But that could change. Several counties say they have a full slate of bridge work this year, and say money from a recently adopted gas tax increase should help reduce the “structurally deficient” bridges in years to come.

“Here in Iowa County we do have a lot of posted weight restrictions for bridges,” Amelon said. “Definitely here, we will be using that money to fix a lot of our bridges. We do need the help.”

For now, though, it’s still pretty grim.

The National Transportation Research Group released a report Tuesday that, using federal data, showed 22 percent, or 4,815, of the state’s 21,939 rural bridges are structurally deficient. It’s the third highest rate in the nation.

Iowa County has 54 of those bridges deemed structurally deficient. That’s a term to indicate deterioration, although not necessarily a sign a bridge is unsafe. Amelon said five bridge replacements and three box culvert replacements, which equate to bridges, are on deck this year.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT

County road departments typically struggle because of smaller populations and lower income, leaving insufficient funds for work, said Scott Neubauer, bridge maintenance and inspection engineer at the Iowa Department of Transportation.

“Some have such low traffic volumes, it’s just not economic for them to take care of those bridges where they don’t have a lot of money,” he said. “They put the money on the roads where the trucks, traffic and grain elevators are.”

The new report stresses the importance of roads and bridges in the Midwest, which is a source of “energy, food and fiber” for the nation. The Washington-D.C.-based TRIP advocated for the adoption of transportation policies to modernize rural roads, improve safety and conditions, and better support the connectivity of people and freight.

“America’s rural transportation network plays a key role in the success and quality of life for U.S. farmers and ranchers,” Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement released by TRIP. “But deteriorated and deficient rural roads and bridges are hindering our nation’s agricultural goods from reaching markets at home and abroad and slowing the pace of economic growth in rural America.”

Among the report’s other findings:

• Iowa ranks fairly low for the rate of traffic fatalities, including No. 40 with 1.66 fatalities per 100,000 miles traveled on rural roads, No. 46 with .5 fatalities per 100,000 miles travel on other roads, and No. 20 with one fatality per 100,000 miles on all roads.

• Iowa is above the national average for road — not bridge — conditions, with 14 percent in poor condition, 31 percent in fair condition and 56 percent in good condition.

Linn County has managed to stay ahead of the curve with only 19 of 258 bridges considered structurally deficient. Several bridge projects are planned this year that should get the list down to 11 in short order, said Linn County Engineer Steve Gannon.

“We are not in the comparison business,” Gannon said. “If there’s problems, we’d like to get them fixed up.”

Gannon and colleague Brad Ketels, associate engineer, said the county is investing nearly $100,000 for deck overlay and patching, adding piles and patching spalled areas on abutments on seven bridges.

The Bloomington Road bridge is due for a $700,000 superstructure replacement later this year or next, they said.

Residents push to save some deficient bridges because they enjoy the old character, Gannon said. The county has put weight and speed restrictions and closed the bridges for a period to extend the life, he said.

Ed Bartels, an assistance engineer in Johnson County, didn’t have an exact list of deficient bridges but said the county has more than $4 million invested to replace five deficient bridges, some of which he called “fracture critical.”

These projects were already scheduled, but money from the new gas tax is set for bridge work in the coming years of its 2015-19 road plan, according to a county document.

“We are making a pretty strong effort to get rid of those deficient bridges and get them off our system,” Bartels said.

By B.A. Morelli, The Gazette