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Mower County will soon begin work on a county bridge that was initially closed for a time two years.

According to a release from Public Works Director Michael Hanson, the county is tentatively scheduled to start reconstructing Bridge 50524 on County State Aid Highway 2 (270th Street) starting Monday. 

The work will include, but not be limited to, the removal and replacement of the bridge, which is located about a half mile east of County of State Aid Highway 25 in Lansing.

The roadway will be closed to traffic for the duration of the bridge replacement, which is expected to be from November 2023 until the bridge is re-opened in the spring of 2024.

Traffic control and detour signage will be erected to alert the traveling public. Motorists are asked to utilize the detour, stay on paved roads, and limit any travel on township roads as much as possible.

The story of the bridge’s repair dates back to June of 2021 when bridge inspectors from the Minnesota Department of Transportation spotted distresses in the steel piling that forced the immediate closure of the bridge. 

The distresses, in the form of missing pieces from the support piling, were spotted thanks to low water of the Cedar River that would have been difficult to spot in normal years.

Temporary fixes to the bridge allowed the bridge to be reopened in July of 2021.

The bridge is currently 52 years old.