Iowa officials reopen Waterloo Bridge damaged in 2008 floods

Iowa Governor Chet Culver joined Congressman Bruce Braley in Waterloo to reopen the Iowa Northern Railway bridge, a freight line that was damaged when the Cedar River flooded in 2008. The reconstruction project is funded through $1 million in Culver/Judge I-JOBS funds, and $2.1 million in federal railroad funds, secured by Congressman Braley. The bridge is completely repaired except for the laying of the tracks.

"I’m proud of how
Congressman Braley and I have worked together to help get goods moving again,
and to rebuild this bridge, and help build up infrastructure statewide," said
Governor Culver. "We’ll keep working to expand freight rail, passenger rail,
and build up a modern, 21st century transportation system, while creating jobs
and rebuilding Iowa’s infrastructure."

The bridge is maintained
jointly by Iowa Northern and Union Pacific. The final tracks will be laid in
October, returning the bridge to its previous capacity, with state-of-the-art
flood mitigation construction techniques to limit the effects of future
flooding.