The existing bridge at Judson, Minnesota, was a steel through truss bridge built in 1954. The 1954 bridge was 479 feet long, consisting of two truss sections that were 200 feet each, plus a 79 foot steel girder span on the south end. The bridge was 24 feet wide. That bridge was determined to be obsolete and too narrow for modern agricultural needs and did not meet current traffic standards. The two adjacent counties, Nicollet and Blue Earth, considered a project to replace the deck, fix selected problems with the structure, and repaint the bridge. The costs for this project were well over half the price of a new bridge. As a result, the two counties agreed to replace the bridge.

A consulting company was hired to pick a new bridge style and draw blueprints for the new bridge. The new bridge would be about the same length as the old bridge, but the road deck would be 16 feet wider. It would also feature a wide sidewalk to be used as part of a future regional trail. The bridge approaches would be built higher than the 100 year flood level. Those plans were completed and delivered in 2006.

The two counties agreed to bid out the bridge and share the costs, but each county would design, bid, and build their own approach roads. The bids for the bridge were as follows:

Lunda Construction Co.	$4,308,926.50
Minnowa Construction Co.	$4,566,396.15
Robert R. Schroder Constr., Inc.	$4,710,049.10
Edward Kramer & Sons Inc.	$5,099,788.63
Ames Construction, Inc.	$5,120,515.30
C.S. McCrossan Construction, Inc.	$6,717,797.05

Much of the cost of the new bridge was covered by federal highway funds through the Minnesota County State Aid Highway fund. Nicollet County bid out the approach road on the north end of the new bridge. Bids for the roadwork were as follows:

Southern MN Construction Co., Mankato, MN	$327,034.30
Midwest Contracting LLC, Marshall, MN	$362,159.85
Mathiowetz Construction Co., Sleepy Eye, MN	$362,507.55

In each case, the low bid was accepted. The new bridge was built next to the old bridge, allowing traffic to use the river crossing during the construction phase. The old bridge closed August 14, 2007. The new bridge was still closed at that time since it was used as a staging platform for removing the old bridge. The new bridge opened in October, 2007, and remained open during the winter. It was closed again in the spring of 2008 for final grading. The bridge opened again on March 18, 2008. It will have to be closed one more time in August, 2008, for paving the approach roads.

The two black and white photos at the bottom were taken from a project newsletter. There was no photo credit or copyright statement, so it appears that these two photos are in the public domain.