Highway 15 Construction Nears Estimated End Date
Highway 15 Construction Nears Estimated End Date
The construction on Highway 15 south of Milbank is approaching its projected completion date of Friday, July 14.
“The contract completion to have the roadway open to traffic is July 14 and we are optimistic the opening can happen a week or two earlier than that,” stated Craig Smith, director of operations for the South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to Smith, the contractor, Midland Contracting Inc., is finishing construction of the concrete approach slabs to the bridge, along with other clean-up items. “Once this work is completed, they can complete the dirt work and gravel surfacing placement to tie the bridge into the roadway,” Smith said.
Smith noted that supply chain issues caused the delivery of steel girders to be delayed during the project’s planning stages. “This delay didn’t allow the bridge deck work to be completed until this spring and required a longer closure than we would have liked. We recognize this caused an inconvenience to the public,” Smith said. He noted that the DOT worked with the county to surface and paint pavement markings to improve the detour route during the highway closure.
Asphalt surfacing has been placed during the closure. The remaining surfacing work will be completed under traffic this summer.
The work is part of a multi-year highway re-grading and bridge replacement project. The first phase in 2021 closed a portion of Highway 15 from US Highway to 212 to South Dakota Highway 20 for highway widening and structure replacement. The section was reopened in November 2021.
The currently closed section of Highway 15, which stretches from Highway 20 to Milbank, has been closed since April 2022. Major additions and improvements include grading, a steel girder bridge and five new box culverts.
