HARDIN – The harvest has ended and the Missouri Department of Transportation has started deck replacement on the Highway J bridge over Crooked River between Hardin and Highway 13. MoDOT had planned to start work in early September, before the corn and soybean harvest. Rep. Peggy McGaugh intervened to delay deck work on behalf of area farmers and grain elevator operators who rely on the bridge to move grain to market. Ray Carroll for example, has a grain elevator with licensed storage capacity for nearly 3 million bushels in Hardin. Bridge work consists of removing and replacing the deck, and improving approaches. By Friday, Nov. 20, the concrete deck had been stripped, exposing the metal skeleton upon which the new deck will be built. Crooked River could be seen when looking down through the steel bones. MoDOT closed Route J between the Shotwell and Missouri River roads Nov. 10. The bridge likely will be closed until around March 21, with the speed of the work being weather…