Charles City Main Street Bridge reopens with large trucks restricted

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Main Street bridge over the Cedar River in Charles City is again open to traffic as of Wednesday afternoon.

The city of Charles City posted a notice online stating, “We have received clearance to reopen the Main Street bridge. Per the recommendation of the bridge inspection firm, we will be placing a 28 ton limit on the bridge.”

The Charles City Police Department posted a notice at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, saying the bridge was open but noting the weight limit – “which means no semis or large heavy trucks rated for over 28T,” it said.

Brian Sullivan, the Charles City city engineer in training, said the city received a letter from the inspector from CB&A (Calhoun-Burns and Associates) advising the city of the weight limitation, but it didn’t go into details.

The indication would be that there had been deterioration since the last inspection, which would have been about two years ago in November 2022, he said. The bridge is inspected every two years.

Sullivan said getting the weight restriction removed would involve repairs to the bridge, but he doesn’t know the extent of that until he sees the full report.

“Once it’s been rated it stays that way or goes lower eventually, unless repairs are made,” he said. “The ratings don’t go back without major repairs.”

Sullivan said depending on the results of the report, it may increase the need to look at bridge replacement options.

If there was damage caused by the flood “it may actually allow for funding sources to be available for it, too. But that’s not a certain thing,” he said.

Near the end of 2020 the city spent almost $330,000 to repair the bridge, primarily focusing on correcting the undulations of the roadway surface caused by settlement and displacement of the earthen fill within the arches. The depressions in the street surface prevented storm water from flowing to intakes and allowed water to leach into the earthen fill.

Polyurethane material was injected under the street and sidewalk pavements and placed within the bridge’s arches to solidify the existing fill material. Additional polyurethane material was then placed to lift the pavement and sidewalks into place to reestablish roadway drainage to the intakes.

In 2022 the City Council approved spending $30,900 for a feasibility study by CB&A to determine the type, size and other particulars for new bridges for both Main Street and Gilbert Street, including evaluating the bridges’ historical and cultural significance.

At that time City Engineer John Falls said the bridges had been getting “fair” ratings on their biennial evaluations, and recommended the city be proactive in having a plan to replace them when that became necessary.

The Main Street Bridge had been closed since June 23, when rising floodwaters covered the entrances to both the Main Street and the Brantingham Street bridges, closing them both.

The Brantingham Bridge was reopened within several hours as the river level fell, but the Main Street Bridge remained closed out of concern over potential damage from debris in the river that may have hit it, or damage from the rushing water itself, which at the river’s crest came within a couple of feet of the top of the arches under the bridge.