Des Moines Sun

City of Des Moines issued the following announcement on August 04.

As of this evening, residents' wait for the Southeast 30th bridge reopening will finally be over. Just in time for the State Fair, the bridge has been closed to traffic for major repairs since August 2020.

The 30th Street bridge was originally built in 1958 and hadn't seen improvements made since 1980. Due to the age of the bridge, the roadway and bridge structure itself were rated in poor condition and identified by the City of Des Moines as a high priority for rehabilitation. Below is the list of improvements identified as necessary to improve the safety of the bridge:

• Complete removal and replacement of the bridge deck
• Widening the existing sidewalks to provide safer pedestrian traffic
• Repair and replacement of bridge support columns
• Steel beam refinishing and sewer improvements
• Full roadway reconstruction of East 30th Street north of the bridge to Dean Avenue

Traffic on the bridge will now consist of two lanes going northbound and one lane going southbound. The bridge still has some ancillary work that has yet to be completed, but it should not be necessary to completely shut down the bridge again. There will be scheduled lane closures to finish installation of new exterior fencing, handrails, additional site restoration and roadway patching near Dean Avenue.

Original source can be found here.