Supervisors approve temporary construction easement for 17th Street bridge; nondestructive testing scheduled

Jackson County supervisors approved a temporary construction easement Dec. 16 to allow contractor staging and work for the 17th Street bridge replacement on property held by the John and Donna Heckman Trust.

County staff recommended the chair sign the easement after the trust had already signed and notarized the document. A motion to approve the easement was made and seconded; the board voted in favor and the chair announced the motion carried.

Staff then updated the board on recent bridge work: repairs were completed under Origin Design’s recommendations, but a separate crack was discovered and also repaired during the contractor’s work. Terracon is scheduled to perform nondestructive testing (a magnetic‑particle method) the following morning to confirm welds and identify any remaining defects before deciding whether to reopen the bridge. Staff cautioned that if testing shows additional significant problems, the board will need to consider leaving the bridge closed or pursuing full replacement.

County staff also noted previous applications to the County Bridge Construction Fund and said the county will reapply; officials cited prior awards of $2,000,000 for other county bridge projects as context and warned replacement even if awarded is typically several years out from notice of award. The board thanked local landowners for granting the easement and acknowledged the balancing act of allocating limited bridge funds across multiple county needs.