Fairfield to replace Crow Creek Bridge, detour planned for most of construction season

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield City Council has agreed to hire Iowa Bridge & Culvert to replace the Crow Creek Bridge on the east edge of Fairfield.

Iowa Bridge & Culvert, LC of Washington, Iowa, came in with the lower of two bids received by the council at just over $1.42 million. The other bid was from Cunningham-Reis LLC at about $1.57 million. Both bids were below the engineer’s estimate of $1.77 million. The council approved Iowa Bridge & Culvert’s bid during its meeting on Jan. 8.

The Crow Creek Bridge is located on East Burlington Avenue, and passes over both Crow Creek and the Fairfield Loop Trail. The closure of this bridge will affect residents who need to access Highway 34 going east.

Construction on the new bridge will begin in a couple of months, likely in April or possibly before depending on if the weather is favorable. The city’s contract with Iowa Bridge and Culvert states that the company has 105 working days to finish the bridge once construction begins, and that the clock will start ticking on April 15 if the company has not already started construction by then. A “working day” is counted only if the weather allows construction. Sundays and holidays are not counted as working days.

Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson said residents should plan on taking a detour around this section of East Burlington Avenue during the spring, summer and into the fall when construction is expected to finish. The exact detour is still being negotiated with the Jefferson County Engineer, but Carlson said it will likely take motorists south to Highway 1.

“We know that local traffic will find the easiest way, so the local detour will more than likely go to Glasgow Road and then to Osage Avenue,” Carlson said. “That should work with anything the county has going on.”

During construction, the Fairfield Loop Trail will be closed at that section, and trail users will be given advanced warning of the closure, and instructed to take a detour on Glasgow Road and Chautauqua Park that will add two-thirds of a mile to the loop trail. Carlson said providing a detour of the trail up and over Burlington Avenue was not feasible because of the change in grade and because it would take users through the construction site.

Carlson said the city is replacing the Crow Creek Bridge because it’s 70 years old and is showing signs it has reached its useful lifespan.

“The bridge gets inspected every two to four years, and we’re starting to see the structure degrading beyond cosmetic stuff,” Carlson said. “We’re seeing more severe cracking, like the difference between a crack in the sidewalk and a pothole.”

According to information Carlson shared with the city council, the new bridge will be 120 feet long and 32 feet wide, compared to the current bridge, which is 100 feet long and 28 feet wide. The work will include relocating the drive to Park View Care Center, reconstructing the existing concrete trail on the Fairfield Loop Trail, and removing and reinstalling the concrete block retaining wall adjacent to the trail.

In February 2021, the city learned that it had received a grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation for up to $1 million to replace the Crow Creek Bridge. At the time the grant was awarded, the city hoped to begin construction in 2022, but that had to be delayed because of rising construction costs and because the city also had to use East Burlington Avenue as one of the detours around its reconstruction of South Main Street.

The Crow Creek Bridge was owned by Jefferson County until late 2020, when ownership was transferred to the City of Fairfield. The change was done to better position the community for grant funding, which paid off in the award from the Iowa DOT.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com