Bridgeport receives updates on force main, first responders

On Jan. 15, the town of Bridgeport held a succession of meetings, including the caucus, sanitary district meeting and regular board meeting.

Dan Dreessens, civil engineer and vice president of Delta 3 Engineering, appeared by phone to suggest the township look at updating their sanitary maps and making them available in an online format.

Over the past week, Delta 3 and town employees managed to locate many of the town’s maps, including old maps from work done by the now defunct Blackhawk Engineering. Some of these maps are approximately 40 years old.

According to Dreessens, these maps have been helpful with projects in progress in the municipality. He offered to bring more information about  an online system already used by Delta 3 for the board to review. The system would allow town employees access to view the maps, locate utility structures and print needed information.

“It’s a nice thing to have, and the nice thing is that it’s online so you can access it anywhere,” Dreessens said.

He also suggested that updating the maps would be helpful for future projects and be used to “verify what works and what doesn’t work.”

“My opinion is we need it,” Town Clerk Kate Krachey said. “In coming in here and looking at these maps, we don’t know what is and what isn’t and I think it’s necessary.”

The board voted to update the sanitary maps. Dreessens will appear at a town board meeting in a few months with more information and costs.

Dreessens also said the elusive force main was located earlier that day. The main was located two feet into U.S. Highway 18, approximately eight feet below the surface. He estimated that concrete repair work on the highway would commence by Jan. 17.

“By Monday (Jan. 20), everything should be back to normal in terms of the highway, and the only thing left to do will be some cleanup in the spring,” Dreessens said.

During the board meeting, which proceeded after the sanitary district’s meeting, Dee Kussmaul, a member of Bridgeport’s volunteer first responders, provided an annual report.

In 2024, the five volunteers responded to 162 calls: 62 in the Prairie du Chien Township, 86 in Bridgeport Township and 14 as an assist to the city of Prairie du Chien.

She also said the first responders used last year’s donation from the town to buy three new radios, which has kept them “up to date.”