Jefferson County Engineer DeWayne Heintz met with the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors Monday, April 20th, providing updates on the ongoing Libertyville Road project and presenting revised weight limit postings for five county bridges following recent inspections.
Libertyville Road Update
Heintz reported that the subdraining work on Libertyville Road was completed last week and that patching crews were expected to wrap up their work by midweek. With those phases winding down, the project is set to move into the widening phase, which will expand the pavement four feet on each side of the road. Heintz said he is generally pleased with the pace of progress.
“We’re making pretty decent time,” Heintz told the board. “Pretty happy with the way things are going.”
Along with the widening, rumble strips will also be added to the road. Heintz said he hopes the combination of the wider surface and rumble strips will help reduce the lane departure accidents that have occurred. The road currently has only a one-inch crown — well below the standard three-inch design — which Heintz said creates problems with water standing on the pavement.
“As a pavement designer, water is our enemy,” he said. “It causes slick spots, seeps underneath the pavement, and makes for soft subgrade.” The patching work involves placing a geogrid fabric at the base to stabilize the area, followed by a foot of rock, with rock depth varying from about two inches at the outside edge to close to four inches at the centerline to bring the road up to a proper 2% crown. Heintz explained that the goal is to achieve a 2% crown — barely noticeable to drivers — which is enough to move water off the pavement and prevent the standing water and icing problems the road currently experiences. By comparison, some of the county’s gravel roads sit closer to a 6% crown, which is much more noticeable but serves the same drainage purpose.
A dirt pile remaining from the Libertyville project will be transported to 110th Street, where it will be used to build out shoulders on either side of box culverts so that safety guardrails can be properly installed. Any remaining material will be used on county dirt roads as needed.
Heintz also addressed the Kale Boulevard embargo road situation, noting that recent rain has helped keep truck traffic off the road by keeping the low-water stream crossing flooded. However, he anticipated that as rainfall slows, trucks may attempt to use the road again. He asked residents who observe trucks on the embargoed road to contact the sheriff’s office, as the county engineer’s office does not have ticketing authority.
“We can shake a finger at them and stuff, but we have no ability to write tickets for that type of thing,” Heintz said.
Heintz also took a moment to address complaints from some residents about wait times at the flagging operation on Libertyville Road. After hearing the concerns, Supervisor Joe Ledger said he went out and spoke directly with the lead flagger on the crew, who told him wait times are around ten minutes at most — though he acknowledged some residents have reported longer waits and noted that people tend to inflate the figure a little when they are sitting and waiting.
Heintz used the opportunity to ask the public to be patient and respectful with flaggers, speaking from personal experience — early in his career, he blew the engine in a dump truck he was driving and spent about three weeks working as a flagger himself. That experience, he said, gave him a deep appreciation for just how difficult the job is.
“They are probably the lowest-paid person out on the project, and safety-wise, they’re the most important,” Heintz said. “It’s really a thankless, mind-numbing job. Having somebody chewing their butt for something they have no control over doesn’t help.”
Ledger also noted a positive change he observed on the project — the pilot car driver was swapping positions with flaggers who had been standing in place for ten to fifteen minutes at a stretch, giving them a rotation and a brief break. Prior to around 2005, flaggers rarely received any breaks at all, according to Heintz. Since then, it has become standard practice to include an extra flagger on payroll specifically to rotate through and give people time off their feet — whether for a fifteen-minute break or a bathroom run. Heintz said it has made the job significantly more manageable than it used to be, even if it remains a tough one.
Bridge Posting Reductions
Heintz also presented updated weight limit postings for five Jefferson County bridges, based on inspections conducted over the past winter. The board unanimously approved the revised postings so that updated signs can be installed.
The bridge on Grasstree Avenue, located in the southwest part of the county just south of Libertyville, is being reduced to three tons. Heintz noted this is the same bridge that had previously been considered for replacement but came in 33% over budget. He said the county is now looking at a possible tank car replacement, with four tank cars likely needed for the project. Even with the proposed fix, the crossing would still go underwater during major flood events. But according to one nearby resident, it already floods about once a year — so he avoids it altogether and takes a different route north for his grain hauling. As it stands now, the bridge is barely safe for a half-ton pickup. “Right now, you’re down to really not even be able to drive a half-ton pickup on it,” Heintz said. “Everything is until it isn’t.”
The bridge on Cedar Avenue in the west part of the county, located south of the BNSF railroad underpass, is being reduced from a posting of 20-33-34 tons to 12-20-20 tons. In practical terms, the new posting means a straight truck is limited to 12 tons, down from 20, while combination vehicles will be limited to 20 tons. The bridge is suffering from severe pile decay and is recommended for replacement with tank cars in fiscal year 2027.
The bridge on 117th Street in the northeast part of the county, north of Germanville Road, is being reduced from six tons to three tons due to severe pile decay. This bridge is already scheduled for replacement this year, and Heintz said the county already has some details including tank car pricing lined up for the project.
The bridge on 148th Street in the northwest part of the county, west of Packwood and north of Abington near the Wapello County line, is being reduced from 13 tons to eight tons. It is also suffering from severe pile decay and is recommended for replacement with tank cars in fiscal year 2027.
The fifth bridge, located on the Jefferson-Henry county line on Jefferson Henry Road north of 240th Street — a Level B dirt road — is being reduced from 18 tons to 10 tons. This bridge carries the additional deficiency of severe pile decay with crushing damage to its southwest abutment cap. Heintz said he has plans to convert this crossing into a low-water stream crossing as part of the replacement.
Heintz also shared that he recently attended an Iowa DOT bridge backwater training class focused on calculating storm flows and came away with a significant takeaway — the calculation method he had been using was running approximately 30% high for small drainage areas, which make up a large portion of the county’s tank car projects. Using a more accurate method will allow the county to deploy tank cars on more projects than previously thought possible, opening up more flexibility in how the county addresses its aging bridge infrastructure.
Tank cars have become an increasingly common and cost-effective solution for bridge replacements across Iowa. What was once considered a salvage product has become something of a commodity among county engineers statewide — and the price has followed accordingly. Heintz noted the cost has roughly doubled since he began in his role, rising from around $9,000 to $10,000 per unit to between $18,000 and $25,000 today. Despite the rising cost, he said tank cars remain a practical and relatively straightforward solution. The installation process is well-understood and the county’s crew has developed a reliable system for it. If tanks are in stock, delivery can be arranged fairly quickly, with the county currently planning to take delivery no earlier than mid-June and pay for them starting July 1st due to budget timing.
“They’re not that difficult to put in,” Heintz said. “The guys have a pretty good system for it. It’s just the money to buy the tank cars.”
