Washington, Dakota counties sign agreement to take down swing bridge

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The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 13 to approve a joint powers agreement between Washington and Dakota counties to remove the blighted J.A.R. swing bridge that spans Mississippi River from St. Paul Park to Inver Grove Heights.

A 50-foot portion of the bridge fell down in November, and since then Washington County officials have designated the more than 100-year old bridge as an emergency removal project.

The estimated removal cost of the bridge is $5.5 million, but officials have said the counties will likely receive state disaster aid to removed the bridge, which has been closed to traffic since 1999.

Washington County officials said they want to remove the entirety of the bridge by August and plan to start removing the St. Paul Park portion as soon as possible.

Washington County Deputy Public Works director Wayne Sandberg said the recently approved joint powers agreement gives the counties the ability “to combine our efforts and resources into one project - seamlessly.”

As stated in the agreement, Washington County will act as the fiscal agent for the project and will be identified as the project lead.

The joint powers agreement does not influence the timeline of the plans for the bridge removal, Sandberg said.

The official start date of the removal project has not yet been determined, because the National Parks Service has indicated that it wants to evaluate the historical preservation opportunities of the bridge and its relation to the Mississippi River before the bridge is removed.

County officials have said they disagree with the National Parks Services intentions and want the bridge removed as soon as possible.

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