Black Hawk County May Save Nature Trail Bridge

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Black Hawk County officials may save a defective Cedar Valley Nature Trail bridge in La Porte City that they were planning to tear down.

Board of Supervisors members have agreed to include $77,000 in next year's conservation board budget for engineering work on long-term repairs to the span over Wolf Creek.

About a dozen cyclists asked the board to save the bridge instead of pursuing a cheaper plan to remove it and reroute the nature trail over another existing bridge.

The bridge was closed in September 2015 after inspectors concluded it was unsafe. Engineering estimates put the cost of long-term repairs at $1.5 million, prompting conservation officials to work instead on realigning the trail for $460,000.