Jasper County acquires concrete for bridge project on N. 107th Ave. W.

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved less than $15,000 worth of concrete that will be poured onto a new bridge deck along North 107th Avenue West over Clear Creek. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the bridge — classified as Bridge D05 — will be about 120 feet long when fully completed.

Purchasing the concrete was an attempt to stay below the day labor limit of less than $15,000, Frietsch said. Only one bidder submitted an estimate for the structural concrete. The board of supervisors awarded the contract to Manatt’s Inc. for $14,800.50, giving the county about 90 cubic yards of poured concrete.

“Our estimate, the engineer’s estimate, was $15,750, so they were underneath our estimate a little bit,” Frietsch said. “Overall, that’s pretty good and that will put them under contract and not count against our day labor limit so we can avoid getting hand slapped by the (Iowa Department of Transportation).”

Progress of the bridge work is coming along.

“Should be setting the beams here on it pretty quick here actually, so we’re getting real close to pouring the deck probably next month,” Frietsch said.

Newton News previously reported about Bridge D05 in August 2024 and March 2025. Last year, the county paid for geotechnical services on the bridge to determine the underlying soil conditions. Allender Butzke Engineers conducted the geotechnical services to Bridge D05 for $6,000.

Earlier this year, the county had to acquire permanent easements in order to move forward with the bridge replacement. Since the steel beam, single-span bridge will be raised about two feet higher, Frietsch decided to try and get a 30-foot strip of additional right-of-way on both sides of the bridge.