The Idaho Transportation Department has selected Spokane-area contractors for two North Idaho road projects worth a combined $2.5 million.

In one of the projects, N.A. Degerstrom Inc., of Spokane Valley, has won a $1.1 million contract to repair the deck of a bridge that carries U.S. 95 over Interstate 90 in Coeur d'Alene. Meanwhile, Harcon Inc., of Spokane, has been selected for a $1.4 million job to replace an aging wooden bridge on state Route 97, along the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Degerstrom will work on the U.S. 95 bridge repair both day and night, and traffic will be detoured around the work zone, although the detour route hasn't been finalized yet, says ITD spokeswoman Barbara Babic.

That work will entail resurfacing the concrete deck of the bridge, located near the busy intersection of U.S. 95 and Appleway Avenue.

The project is scheduled to begin in September and to be completed in October.

Harcon's work on the bridge that carries state Route 97 across Beauty Creek where it feeds Lake Coeur d'Alene is expected to begin at the beginning of August, says Barry Peterson, operations manager for Harcon. That project is expected to take about 70 working days to complete, he says.

Peterson says the work will be staged so that half of the current two-lane structure will remain open during construction.

The bridge is a 64-foot-long wooden structure that will be replaced with a 70-foot-long single-span steel girder bridge. Peterson says the new bridge also will have two lanes, but will be wider and about a foot higher than the current structure.

Harcon also will widen the east approach to the bridge and add erosion prevention measures such as rip-rap material beneath the bridge.