14th Avenue bridge over Big Sioux River to be replaced in 2026
One of the bridges over the Big Sioux River in Watertown will be replaced in 2026, Codington County commissioners learned Tuesday morning.
During his report County Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley said the 14th Avenue bridge has been approved for replacement. Last year load limits were placed on the bridge because of its deteriorating condition.
After the meeting Hartley said the current replacement cost is estimated at $2 million, but he added that he wasn’t certain what the cost will be in three years.
State, county and possibly federal funds will be used for repairs, and Hartley said the City of Watertown is interested in paying for adding a bicycle lane onto the bridge, which handles much of the east-west traffic in the northern area of Watertown.
Preliminary examination of the heating, cooling and air conditioning (HVAC) system of Codington County Detention Center and Courthouse has begun.
Steve Molengraaf, county facilities manager, briefed commissioners on the visit by Johnson Controls of Sioux Falls and sub-contractor CMTA of Fargo, which are tasked with developing a plan to repair the HVAC system for both county facilities. New purchases and repairs of the system are estimated to exceed $4 million.
Molengraaf said new boilers are now likely to be placed in the courthouse and not in the CCDC where 2 of the 3 are currently located. The courthouse offers more space and easier access, Molengraaf reported. He also said air exchangers on the CCDC roof will also be relocated to reduce clutter.
The commissioners approved all bids for county highway department and weed and pest department that were first opened last week.
Cole Petroleum of Madison will be providing the diesel and gasoline fuels. Rinker Construction of Mitchell was the winning bidder for concrete culverts and bridge decking, and TrueNorth Steel of Huron will provide metal culverts and pipes and wooden bridge lumber.
Other winners were Flint Hills of Marshall, Minn. for liquid asphalt, Jebro Inc. of Sioux City for patching asphalt, Duininck of Prinzburg, Minn. and Watertown for cold mix and hot mix asphalt, Northern Con-Ag of Milbank for pea gravel and Brownlee Construction of Watertown for gravel crushing.
County Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley did correct one bid he announced last week. He initially said that an 8-foot by 8-foot concrete culvert would cost $898 compared to the 2022 price of $650. But Hartley said he was reading from the wrong line when he quoted the cost, and the 2023 price is $675.
Van Diest Chemical of Webster City, Iowa will be providing most of the county’s weed and pest control needs. The other supplier is Hefty Seed of Watertown.
In other actions by the commissioners:
• Approved 9 tax abatements. Eight individuals received a total of $7,427.20 for a variety of programs available to taxpayers. Their information is confidential. The other abatement of $436.44 went to Midwest Business Condos of Watertown for damage received during a May derecho.
• Approved declaring as surplus telephones that have been replaced by new models. The surplus telephones will be offered for sale at $10 each.
• Approved the $8,029 purchase of new indexing books for the Register of Deeds office. In 2022 the South Dakota Legislature passed the Modernization and Preservation Relief Fund to assist counties in the payment for the updates.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 14th Avenue bridge over Big Sioux River to be replaced in 2026
