County hears option to save historic Dillon Bridge

     It could cost around $350,000 to save the historic Dillon Military Bridge in Anamosa.

   The bridge crosses the Wapsipinicon River near the entrance to Wapsipinicon State Park, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

   Anamosa City Administrator Jeremiah Hoyt met with the Jones County Supervisors during their Feb. 27 board meeting to update them on the status of the bridge.

   Hoyt acknowledged that both the city and the county are in the same position right now when it comes to tightening their budgets. He said he understands that a project like this does complicate things.

   “This project is not the most ideal discussion at this time. I am very cognizant of that.”

   Right now, the abutment of the bridge is falling into the river. The bridge has been closed for some time because it is not up to standards nor safe for any kind of traffic to cross.

   Anamosa city officials have spoken with the supervisors several times between October 2021 and June 2022, regarding the situation with Dillon Bridge. Hoyt said it’s an issue his office has been dealing with for a while.

   A couple of years ago, Origin Design looked into what could be done to the bridge.

   “They completed an initial assessment and determined the cost of restoring the bridge was not feasible, several millions of dollars to make that happen,” he recalled. “That wasn’t in the cards for either of our organizations.”

   Following that assessment, the bridge continued to sit.

   “During that time, I did receive a lot of feedback from various people within the community really wanting us to do something about this issue,” shared Hoyt.

   He asked the Anamosa city engineer firm, HR Green, to study the bridge to help find a solution to save it.

   Hoyt laid out four options and price quotes:

   1. Complete demolition of the bridge, $200,000

   2. Complete repair of the bridge abutments and restoration of the bridge, $2 million

   3. Relocation of the bridge, $300,000

   4. Allocate no funds and take no action, $0

   Hoyt favored option 3, which would cost the city and county $150,000 each.

   In this scenario, Dillon bridge would be removed from its current location, rotated approximately 90 degrees, and placed on the flood berm near the city’s shop between Elm Street and Walworth Avenue.

   This would allow the historic bridge to remain intact and remain a fixture of the Anamosa community.

   Hoyt said he envisions building an historic marker to note the story behind the bridge. He said it’s also the most cost-effective options that also supports public sentiment of keeping the bridge.

   In early February he presented the options to the Anamosa City Council.

   If there were a desire to go with option 4, Hoyt offered, “We’ll still be paying to fish it (the bridge) out of the river, along with the fines that are associated with that. The DNR was very quick, as well as the company that owns the dam, both of them reiterated that if falls in the water, we’re paying additional costs. If it falls on the dam, we’re paying additional costs, reiterating that option 4 may not be the best idea.”

   Hoyt said he has been in contact with the Corps of Engineers.

   Several years ago, Ricklefs Excavating (now Boomerang) submitted a bid to the county to remove a bridge on Shaw Road. County Engineer Derek Snead said they received six or seven bids at the time and Ricklefs was far lower in the tens of thousands compared to the others at around a quarter of a million dollars.

   Supervisor John Schlarmann urged Hoyt to look into bids from local contractors to remove the bridge.

   “$150,000 for our half to move it seems pretty expensive,” commented Schlarmann. “If it’d be $50,000 to $75,000 to move it and we pay half, that sounds like a better option. The DNR should be paying half of it because they own half.”

   He further questioned why the county was even involved in this discussion, noting that Anamosa and the DNR own the property on either side of the bridge.

   Hoyt said he can’t get anywhere with the DNR.

   Schlarmann said once the bridge is removed, whichever option they choose, he wants the county to wash their hands of it.

   County Attorney Kristofer Lyons offered his take and also feels the county should not be a player in the game.

   “I don’t know what on earth the board of supervisors was thinking in 2008. This is an albatross that was put on the county for no reason,” he said. “There is nothing in the 28E agreement that indicates why the board went along with it. I think it’s absolutely a terrible decision that got made before any of us were here. It’s going to cost us money. If we’re going to go along with any of these plans, we need to make sure that we’re out of it. It has to be conditionally that once that thing is moved, this 28E is terminated.”

   Lyons said the agreement states that the DNR would assist both the city and county with maintenance of the bridge but did not want to be a part of the 28E.

   “If this thing all goes south, and the bridge falls apart, all I can guarantee it’s going to be a hell of a lawsuit,” he continued. “Everybody is going to be suing everybody because no one is going to want to pay these costs. We have a legal obligation for another three and a half years and then we can terminate this thing. If the board decides to go in one direction and help pay for this move, then we need to make it very clear that part of that agreement is the city terminates the 28E so we’re not on the hook after it gets moved. We should have never been involved with it in the first place. I don’t know why we’re here.”

   “We already have an historic bridge down river (Hale Bridge),” noted Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach. “How much historic can we afford? Unless somebody is going to walk in with a couple hundred thousand dollars in private donations.”

   The board thanked Hoyt for his update.

   “If this option is the way we choose to go, the intent is once it’s removed, the 28E is then vacated by both parties and it’s entirely the city’s at that point,” offered Hoyt.