Humboldt County to take another run at a BUILD grant
Murray Bridge, located between Rutland and Bradgate.
By APRIL KELLEY
Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots requested permission from the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to reapply for the BUILD grant for the third year during the Supervisors' regular weekly meeting on Monday, Dec. 29.
Humboldt County has applied for the grant along with six other counties for the past two years. Butler County is taking the lead on the grant, applying for all seven counties.
The grant funding would be used to replace the Murray Bridge located between Rutland and Bradgate. At present, the bridge is only load rated up to a pickup, not ideal on Iowa’s agricultural roadways. The specifications for the new bridge also require the direction of the bridge to be adjusted to create a straighter travel trajectory.
The group’s application was rejected the first year due to several areas that needed to be revised.
“On round two, we got very high marks on all of our proposal; we just ran short of funding for the federal program,” Loots said.
According to Loots, the funding was cut during the Biden/Trump transition, causing many of the grant applications to not be accepted. The funds have since been reinstated and Loots feels that the Humboldt contingent has a good chance of receiving the funding this time.
“We feel like with ours being 100% infrastructure and basically no fat tied to it, that this will pass with relatively high marks,” Loots said.
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