State Highway 122 bridge project in Mason City scheduled to be completed today

MASON CITY — Good news for motorists who regularly travel on Mason City’s west side.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Pete Hjelmstad told us this morning that the bridge project on State Highway 122 will likely be completed today.  “The paint crew is supposed to be there by about noon today, which means the 122 eastbound bridge should be open by the end of the day today.”

Hjelmstad says the DOT appreciates the patience by everybody in getting the project completed.   “A lot for people to deal with, especially since it was extended a little bit because of the flooding, but we appreciate everybody who used the detour and we appreciate everybody’s patience.”

Hjelmstad says bridge project progress always depends on subcontractor work being completed. “Especially with these bridge projects all depends towards the end of them how the subcontractors line up. There’s a different contractor that comes in and does the dirt work, which was there Friday, and there’s a different contractor that comes in and does the guard rail work, and they were there Monday, so they were able to get that in. Now we have another contractor that comes in to do the painting.”

Hjelmstad says with the wet weather earlier this year, the contractor actually ended up finishing the project earlier than they were obligated to.  “They have working days in their contract. When the site is unsuitable or unsafe for work like it was during the flooding, they aren’t charged working days. They still had working days left.  Technically the bridge is open on time if you want to go by the contract.”

Hjelmstad reminds motorists that there will NOT be any work done next year on the bridge on the westbound lanes. A bridge deck overlay project was done a few years ago and it did not need to be replaced like the eastbound lanes bridge.