Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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Blue Earth County is busy trying to get ahead of the warming weather on several key infrastructure projects — especially the County Road 9 Bridge.

Floodwaters breached round the Rapidan Dam in June last year, also damaging the nearby bridge. Blue Earth County voted to remove the historic Rapidan Dam in August. Work is already underway on replacing the bridge.

County Engineer Ryan Thilges said a temporary causeway and makeshift diversion channel is built. He added officials are watching weather forecasts to make sure needed bridge work is out of the way before the thaw. 

“We’re really under the gun to try to get as much of the old bridge out before any possible spring flood conditions,” Thilges added. 

The bridge deck is being removed, and the county is in process of finalizing a plan to schedule severing and felling the bridge’s beams. Last summer’s severe flooding on the Blue Earth River breached around the Rapidan Dam and damaged the structure. 

Blue Earth County is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to continue detailing the damages and developing a cost estimate it would take to return the Rapidan Dam site to its pre-flood condition. 

The exact timeline for the historic Rapidan Dam removal is still highly uncertain, according to Thilges. He’s reluctant to commit to a timeline, even if it’s an estimate. He said there’s too many factors outside of county control including getting the necessary environmental permits and funding.

“There’s such a high variability of probability of things not going exactly how we would anticipate,” Thilges said. “This is somewhat unchartered waters.”

Floodwaters breached round the dam in June last year, also damaging the nearby County Road 9 Bridge. Blue Earth County voted to remove the historic Rapidan Dam in August. Work is already underway on replacing the bridge.

Hannah Yang

Author

Faced with the task of replacing a flood-damaged bridge, and removing a breached dam, county officials face the prospect of more spring floods and an uncertain timeline. 

Blue Earth County up against the clock — and the unknown — in flood repair projects

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