Help available in saving historic bridges

Traill County’s imperiled historic bridges may still find salvation.
In conversations with N.D. Department of Transportation officials this week, the Banner learned that two bridges in the county are on the state’s “short list” for restoration and preservation — the Viking Bridge, the oldest bridge in the state located north of Portland, and the Caledonia Bridge, which crosses the Goose River in the heart of the village of Caledonia.
Bob Christensen, cultural resources section leader, noted that both bridges are “under consideration” by the state.
One bridge — and only one — is likely to be chosen each year for rehabilitation by the state, he cautioned. Just as Traill County bridgekeepers and historians struggle to make the Solomon’s choice between two bridges of significance, Christensen said state DOT has to make a choice among bridges from all over the state.
“We have to have a statewide perspective,” he noted.
He added that the eastern part of the state was settled first and as a result does have more older bridges.
He pointed out that the Blanchard Bridge was once a prime “candidate for rehabilitation.” The structure, built in 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1997, didn’t win out in the state’s final selection process.
Traill County commissioners voted in April to give away the Blanchard Bridge, “the bridge to nowhere,” which had not carried traffic in more than 45 years. The structure is promised to a Wisconsin man who plans to move it to his home state.
Christensen said that one of the things the NDDOT tries to do is “upgrade bridges that have gone by the wayside.”
Bridges of historic or architectural significance are given special consideration for preservation and rehabilitation, Christensen added. Through-truss and pony-truss construction techniques define another era and can provide a living history lesson when preserved. “We try to preserve a cross-section of different types of bridges.”
The funding for such projects is available through the Transportation Enhancement Grant program, Christensen noted. Under the program, the state aims to complete nontraditional highway projects like bike and pedestrian trails, landscaping and historic transportation rehabilitation.
According to the NDDOT website, applications are due in November and the selection process and engineering typically take another year to complete with bid letting and construction set for the following year.
Three bridges have been or are in the process of being restored through this program, explained Ben Kubischta, transportation enhancement coordinator for the DOT.
He pointed to three bridge projects near Fort Ransom and in Dickey, N.D. and Fargo. The rural bridges are in their original locations, while the Fargo one is not. Kubischta said that none of these historic bridges were formal applicants under the Transportation Enhancement Grant program. Instead, they’ve fallen in the “special cases” category, he said.
State officials had targeted the structures for restoration and then forged a working relationship with the counties or cities involved to complete the work.
Kubischta said Tuesday he’s planning a field trip to Traill County in June to take a closer look at both the Viking and Caledonia Bridges. Ideally he hopes to be accompanied by state and local officials.

Christensen said the state tries to gauge which bridges are “worthy” from several different vantage points.
If Traill County is interested in restoring one of the bridges, Kubischta said he would suggest that county commissioners put that request in writing. He even volunteered to help script the letter to meet federal and state requirements.
A decision by the DOT on which bridge in the state will be restored should come sometime later this summer, he said. If Traill County’s bridge is selected, the county would hire an engineer to design the rehabilitation project. The bidding process would follow in the fall of 2008 with construction scheduled for 2009, Kubischta said.
It’s a long process, Kubischta conceded. “But the counties get a good deal,” he added.
It’s a win-win situation, he said. The county saves a bridge that’s important at the local level and the state preserves a bridge that has significance on a broader scale.
Kubischta said that federal funds finance the work on an 80-20 cost share. The state picks up the 20 percent and the “local sponsor” (usually the county) is left responsible for the approaches leading to the bridge — a relatively small percentage of the overall cost for engineering and construction, he estimated.
Rehabilitated bridges typically aren’t reopened to heavy traffic or accommodate wide farm equipment, Christensen noted. Usually other, newer bridges in the neighborhood are available for those uses.
Kubischta conceded the toll of time and the lack of funding doom some bridges, “We can preserve a few but we may have to take out the rest of them.”