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On Tuesday, County Engineer Mike Hanson announced that County Road 2, east of Lansing, has reopened at least through the harvest season.

However, in a short release Tuesday announcing the opening, Hanson said the bridge is open only to legal loads. No oversize/overweight permits will be issued to cross the bridge at this time.

The road was initially shut down because of critical damages to the steel piling  of the bridge. The damage was noticed by Minnesota Department of Transportation engineers during an annual inspection, made possible in part because of dry conditions and the Cedar River being so low.

In June, Hanson reported the damage to the Mower County Board of Commissioners who then moved to shut the road down immediately until temporary repairs could be made.

“Right now we need to close the road due to the critical finding,” Hanson said at the time.

The temporary fixes implemented will get the bridge through the harvest season as engineers make plans to permanently replace the bridge.

The bridge is 50 years old and was built in 1971. Hanson said the useful life of a bridge is generally 75 years.