By Katie Schubert
Omaha, NE – Damage assessments are underway along Interstates 29 and 680 in western Iowa.
On I-29, DOT crews are washing debris off the road to prepare it for repairs. State Maintenance Engineer Younie says there's significant damage to the pavement. "We found holes as deep as five feet parallel to the road where the shoulder has been washed out, so that's got to be fixed. We found some asphalt that's been debonded and saturated where it's been taken off the road, so we have to mill off the asphalt that's left and replace that in those areas."
Younie says Interstate 680 is "totally destroyed" due to Missouri River flooding. He says a contract for reconstruction of 680 could be awarded next week. "We're going to do everything we can to get I-680 reopened this year, anything reasonable to get traffic back on I-680, we understand the mobility problems it's causing for folks, and the contracting industry is excited to step up on this."
No timeline is set for the reopening of I-29 south of Omaha. There's significant road and bridge damage along 29 near Hamburg.