News Track: Iowa City park bridge damaged in flash flooding to be replaced

IOWA CITY - In spring 2013, flash flooding picked up the wooden bridge spanning a shallow creek in Iowa City's Hickory Hill Park, leaving it askew from the trail. In August 2014, the city said funds had been earmarked to replace the bridge on the east side of the 190-acre park.

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE

The bridge is expected to be replaced by spring.

The Iowa City Council last month approved the awarding a contract to the Anamosa-based Ricklefs Excavating to replace the bridge on the east side of Hickory Hill Park. The bid came in at $141,477.11, of which just under $15,000 will be covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. The rest will come from bond issue proceeds.

Jason Reichart, the city's engineer for the project, said FEMA originally gave the city money to simply replace the bridge. But he said the city saw an opportunity for something sturdier.

'We're replacing that with a pre-engineered, steel pedestrian bridge,” he said.

The new bridge will be more secure, as well. Reichart said the old bridge just sat on the ground, allowing the flash flooding to pick it up and move it slightly off the trial. The new bridge will have concrete abutments, he said.

The plan is for the project to be completed in May. Reichart said the city hopes to keep the existing bridge in place for as long as possible, but said if Ricklefs Excavating needs it out of the way for abutment work, it'll have to go early.

'We're going to do our best to maintain the existing bridge,” he said.

The park will remain open during the construction process, as will all of the trails.

The bridge replacement is just one project scheduled for the park, said Juli Seydell Johnson, parks and recreation director. Later this year, the city will be repairing - though not paving - some eroded and washed out trails in the park and adding some wayfinding signs.

'People love that park,” Seydell Johnson said. 'It's one of our natural gems for the community. We just need to make it safer and more usable for the folks that want to get out on the trails.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com