TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The south-central region of the Idaho Transportation Department is partnering with two other districts for a bridge project.

Together the team, comprised of south-central, southeastern and eastern Idaho districts, identified 17 bridges that need that need to be replaced. The team also came up with a plan to address all of the bridge replacements while saving $4.7 million, according to the transportation department.

"The incredible savings are associated with grouping projects across district lines and working together,"  ITD District 6's Josh Sprague said in the news release.

The team also collected data and finished concept designs at a fraction of the cost of doing each individually, the department says.

Each of the bridges had reached their 50-year life span, so they all were in need of replacement. Each bridge will be brought up to current design standards; being wider to accommodate wider shoulders or future widenings, and in most cases longer, to better accommodate ever-changing waterways. As a result of the future shoulder widenings, ITD also will be minimizing the amount of guardrail needed.

The dividend is with the taxpayer. D6 District Engineer Jason Minzghor said that by combining all 17 projects into one saves a significant amount of money for the taxpayer. It also saves time.

"This accelerates the whole process, so we can make needed repairs more quickly for the users of the highway system,” he said.

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