Blue Earth County Board Approves Contract for CSAH 9 Bridge Replacement

The Blue Earth County Board approved the contract for the CSAH 9 Bridge replacement as well as the firm that will design the demolition of the Rapidan Dam at their meeting Tuesday.

CSAH 9 Bridge

TKDA, an engineering firm in St. Paul was approved by the County Board and will work with the county on design plans to reconstruct the bridge.

Blue Earth County Administrator Bob Meyer also added in an interview on KTOE that once design plans have been completed, there will be a public open house where residents will have an opportunity to review the plans and provide input. The open house is expected to be held in 2026, with construction on the new bridge expected to begin in 2026 or 2027.

The current bridge has been mostly demolished by Hosier Worldwide, and it is expected that explosives will be used to remove the remaining pieces with cleanup expected to be completed by the end of March 2025

Rapidan Dam

Barr Engineering was selected to draw up plans for removal of the Rapidan Dam. Current timelines estimate that Barr Engineering will complete plans for Dam removal by the summer of next year with funding sources identified by the end of 2026. Once funding has been identified, bids will be sought from contractors in early 2027 for the Dam removal.

The process is still ongoing with both FEMA and FERC to determine costs of the project. FEMA will assess the cost to return the Dam to pre-disaster levels. Once a cost estimate is agreed to by FEMA and the County, there is a process by which the County can use the FEMA funds for work other than repairing the Dam. The County board has directed staff to use the FEMA funding to assist in removal of the Dam.

The County hopes that removal of the Dam will begin in July of 2027 and continue into 2028

You can listen to the entire interview with Bob Meyer with Lisa Kaye here: