By David Hendee
OMAHA, Neb (Reuters) - This year's flooding along the Missouri River has eroded bridges and roadbed on Interstate Highway 29 in southwest Iowa, a key point in the route between Kansas City, Missouri, and Fargo, North Dakota.
Inspections on two I-29 bridges near Hamburg, Iowa, found damage caused by scouring floodwater including an 11-foot hole under the pavement, said Bob Younie, maintenance chief for the Iowa Transportation Department.
The discovery was a setback to hopes that I-29 would reopen quickly after water recedes next month following flooding on the Missouri River that has soaked property from Montana through Missouri this year.
Interstate 29 and southwest Iowa have been inundated since June by flooding created by record releases from Army Corps of Engineers dams on the Missouri River in the northern plains.
The river was not expected to return to its banks until late September. It was more than five feet above flood stage on Friday at Omaha and more than four feet above flood stage at Hamburg, Iowa.
Flood-caused scouring has also damaged I-680 near near Omaha's Mormon Bridge. At least seven highways in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa remain closed by flooding.
Younie said he hoped all flooded roads in western Iowa would be open by winter, but officials were still unable to completely assess damage.
(Editing by James B. Kelleher and Cynthia Johnston)
