Ringgold County engineer reports multiple road projects; Middle Fork T reopened to traffic

County Engineer Jared Johnson told the Ringgold County Board of Supervisors on May 4 that routine maintenance and several active projects are advancing across the county. Johnson reported that spot rock was hauled to the north central, northeast and southwest maintainer districts and that flagger training was conducted with Iowa LTAP.

Johnson said crews worked on shouldering along J20, using a tractor with a shouldering disk to repair edge ruts and cut shoulder edges, and that the sign truck has been repairing or replacing downed and deteriorated signs. He also reported vegetation management around bridge ends where trees and brush had previously been cut.

On project work, Johnson reported the hydraulic review for the Union 13 project has been completed and cleared with no comments. He said the Middle Fork T project is now complete: the crane was hauled off site, the temporary entrance removed, and the road reopened to traffic. At the Middle Fork 10 site, Johnson described substantial work already done—crane mobilization, removal of interior and west-end spans, removal of the west pier and excavation of a new west abutment footing—and outlined plans to remove the existing west abutment, install a temporary stream crossing, and begin pile driving.

Johnson said preliminary plans are under way for the P33 resurfacing project and that the Poe 17 project has a local letting date of May 11. He added that the concept statement for Washington 24 has been reviewed and cleared by the Iowa Department of Transportation and that Lotts Creek 10 is planned as a locally funded bridge replacement for FY27; the department is completing the site survey.

The engineer’s report focused on near-term construction steps, safety training and continued maintenance; no formal board action on projects was recorded at the meeting.