Good news! Highway 212 bridge deck pour scheduled for next week (Audio)

December 3, 2019
Mike Tanner
KWAT Radio News

WATERTOWN, S.D.—Contractors working on the U.S. Highway 212 construction project in Watertown might have a nice Christmas gift to give to motorists later this month in the form of a new bridge over the Big Sioux River.

It’s the last major piece of work that needs to be done before the detour signs can come down and the highway reopened.

South Dakota DOT Project Engineer Bryce Olson tells KWAT News the plan is to pour the concrete bridge deck next Thursday, December 12th.

The construction work has been plagued by unfavorable weather since the onset, and Olson says the snow that fell last weekend didn’t help….

Olson says the deck pour itself is a one day job….

Olson says once the bridge deck is poured, they’ll need about two weeks for the concrete to cure and strengthen, meaning the bridge could be open to traffic shortly after Christmas.

Some odds and ends will have to wait until 2020….

The project included a complete rebuild of Highway 212 between Highways 20 and 81.