Iowa Department of Transportation Engineer shares further insight into decision to close and demolish the Black Hawk Bridge this fall

The Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (DOT) announced Monday, July 14 that the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing will be permanently closed and demolished at some point in the fall of 2025 “to ensure that the new bridge can be safely constructed and opened as planned in 2027,” according to a news release made public that July 14 afternoon. In that release, the Iowa DOT noted that “project engineers reached this decision after extensive discussions between both state DOTs, the contractor, and additional analyses,” and also noted that “the exact closure date will be determined later in the year.”

In an effort to offer further insight into the decisions made regarding the permanent closure and much earlier demolition of the bridge than originally planned, Iowa DOT District Engineer Clayton Burke, who is the project manager for the new Mississippi River bridge project, shared some insight into the process and what it took to ultimately come to a decision that nobody wanted to have to make. He notes that the decision ultimately came down to safety, and he wants everyone to know that it was not a decision taken lightly by anyone involved but that it was, and continues to be, centered around trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation.

“We’ve had a history throughout the project of working alongside the existing bridge, and throughout the construction process we’ve had several instances where the existing bridge has moved and we’ve had to close it due to safety concerns,” Burke reflected. “Each time we’ve closed it, we either repaired the existing bridge and reopened it or analyzed the structure through an engineering firm. During the last movement - the most recent movement (May 2025) - we went to the engineering firm that we’ve been working with and we asked them to analyze the structure again - first, to make sure that it was safe to reopen and then to see if there was any more ‘wiggle room’. Would it be catastrophic if this bridge moves any more? We found that it was safe to reopen, but then, through our discussion with management, all the way up to the top of all entities involved in the project (including the governor’s offices in both Iowa and Wisconsin Burke later clarified), we’ve decided that there is just no safe way to keep risking movement of the existing bridge - particularly when you consider the construction workers who are working right next to it. We could close it to the public and keep working, but there’s still people working right next to the bridge that would still be at risk.”

The decision of permanent closure comes on the heels of a series of decisions and announcements made by the Iowa DOT as analysis of the bridge continued, especially after the most recent movement in May of this year. When the bridge was reopened in early June following that most recent closure, announcement was initially made that another planned closing would take place following the Fourth of July holiday weekend. However, another announcement was made July 1 stating that the bridge would remain open through the entire summer, with no further closure scheduled at that point in time. Continued analysis and weighing of options in keeping the existing bridge safely open while continuing to conduct the necessary work to complete the new bridge according to schedule ultimately led to the July 14 announcement of permanent closure and demolition of the Black Hawk Bridge in the fall of this year.

“We were initially going to close it in July and try driving with a different pile hammer, but that pile hammer would still have been risky because - even though it may have had a lower impact on the existing bridge if it worked just right, if something did go wrong, it would have had an even larger impact,” Burke explained. “So, it was a risky option, and we decided that safety is paramount. We can’t risk trying that other option, we just have to move toward the only thing that we have left, which would be to close and demolish the existing bridge first. And then, with that structure out of the way, we can continue driving the pile.”

Burke said there were many options weighed by those making the decision on how to best move forward in regard to the two bridges. He further noted that the options considered and perspectives sought went far beyond just those most directly involved with the project.

“There were a few different options we looked at, but they all involved risk,” he advised. “If we were to try to - what we call - ‘underpin’ the existing structure and drive micropile underneath, you’re still driving pile and to do that, you’re putting the construction crew at risk. And then there’s auger-driven pile that would add months to the construction schedule, and you drill that under a drilling fluid and there’s a risk of that hole collapsing next to the existing bridge. There are many, many options that were discussed at length, and we consulted with some of the best minds in the nation through geotechnical firms, and we exhausted all the options as not being safe to try. It’s largely due to the proximity of the existing bridge to the new bridge. If we were further away, that might open up some other options, but we’re stuck with what we’ve got.”

To read the full article, pick up the Wednesday, July 23, 2025 print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition or print edition by clicking here.