A bridge on Beardsley Avenue in rural Marion County may close soon.

County Engineer Tyler Christian presented several options for the bridge between 35th and 40th Streets to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, with closing and vacating it among those. The small tributary of the Des Moines River that the bridge crosses has been filled in by sediment deposited by flooding over many years.This bridge and several others like it in the county are being washed over by runoff as the streambed rises to level with the road bed. Christian says that the Beardsley Bridge is by far the most extreme example, but the Marion County Roads Department will continue to monitor other bridges for similar issues. In 1975, the Beardsley Bridge was 12 feet from the streambed, now it is almost level with it. The Supervisors tabled the measure to allow more time to consider options.