Jefferson Street bridge reopened in Joliet

The Jefferson Street bridge reopened Wednesday morning.

The reopening marked the first of two Des Plaines River drawbridges to be put back in service.

The Brandon Road bridge, which was shut down Aug. 22, is on track to reopen Sunday, said Guy Tridgell, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The Jefferson Street bridge closed July 9 for a scheduled two-month project involving structural steel repairs of two deteriorated girders that support the west leaf of the bridge.

Tridgell said in an email the bridge “will likely need to be closed again next spring for additional structural steel repairs that were identified during the course of this project.”

IDOT had said before the project started that the Jefferson Street bridge would be closed again in the spring for mechanical repairs.

The dates for the closure have not been set.

But Tridgell said IDOT expects to meet its previously set target for reopening the Brandon Road bridge Sunday.

The bridge was closed for emergency repairs of the center lock, the device that holds together the two ends of the bridge.