Iowa, Illinois announce I-80 bridge repairs

LE CLAIRE, Iowa -- Transportation officials in Iowa and Illinois have announced a $10 million plan to repair the Interstate 80 bridge over the Mississippi River.

Traffic on the 42-year-old bridge between Le Claire, Iowa, and Rapids City, Ill., was restricted in May after a crack was discovered in a steel beam during a routine inspection. A second crack was discovered during a subsequent inspection.

Officials with the Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation announced during a news conference Wednesday that 74 floor beams will be replaced along with bridge expansion and relief joints.

Work is expected to begin on the eastbound lanes in April 2010 and be complete by mid-July 2010. Repairs would then begin on the westbound lanes with completion expected by November 2010.

Both states will share the costs of repair