County, state officials narrow search to Traill bridges

By ANNA AUSTIN
Although what will become of the Blanchard Bridge is still up in the air, local and state officials meeting July 26 in Traill County discussed the high probability of restoring one of the three other bridges in Traill County that remain on the National Registrar of Historic Places.
While the Viking and Caledonia bridges were visited and examined, state funds provided for restoration projects through the state Transportation Enhancement Program will be designated to restore only one bridge.
The fourth county bridge listed in the national register is the Norway Bridge, which is currently open.
“It’s a really touchy subject, dealing with old bridges,” commented Bob Christensen, North Dakota State Department of Transportation cultural resources section leader. “We’re seeing a lot of bridges being replaced because they don’t meet requirements.”
According to Christensen, the DOT is in the process of developing a specific plan to deal with historic bridges.
“We haven’t got it formulated quite yet,” he added.
Meanwhile, a Fort Ransom bridge, another in Dickey County and a Fargo bridge, have been restored.
“We choose bridges that we can rehabilitate in place, at the existing location,” commented Ben Kubischta, NDDOT transportation enhancement coordinator.
“Obviously, we can’t do really large bridges like Liberty Memorial (Bismarck). That would be too way too costly. Even the small ones come with very high price tag.”
According to Kubischta, the Martinson Bridge at Fort Ransom cost approximately $510,000 to restore.
“The reality here,” he said, “is that we can only do one bridge. A decision has to be made on what type of work needs to be done, how much it will cost, and then we can start.”
Through the Transportation Enhancement Program, there are 12 different categories of funding. Traill’s three bridges fall under historic transportation structures. The one selected will undergo reconstruction in 2009.
There are concerns, however, that Traill County has a very large number of old bridges, far too many to try to repair.
“A lot of them have had to be taken out,” admitted Kubischta.
There are four main factors to be considered, beside historic value, in the process of deciding whether or not it is worth restoring a bridge. They include a known construction date, a known builder, architectural importance, and whether original plans are available.
Kubischta also pointed out the importance of considering the historic value of the bridge on a statewide basis, verses solely county.
“You also have to look the location,” he said. “How it fits into the landscape. If a person has to drive a plow 20 miles around it, it’s not going to work.”
The eastern part of the state is home to many historic bridges.
The Caledonia and Viking bridges have sentimental value to county and state residents for different reasons.
The Caledonia Bridge, instrumental in the settling of Traill County, was built in 1895.
Questions, however, were addressed Thursday concerning the bridge’s capability of being moved for repairs.
“We’ll never get it in one piece,” commented Scott Stammen, county road and bridge superintendent. “Although, the truss and the bottom is in good shape.”
“And that’s what’s most important in deciding whether a bridge can be fixed,” added Christensen.
The through truss (super structure) of Caledonia bridge is about 150 feet long from end to end, the bridge itself is 266 feet.
“It needs some major work though,” said Christensen. “It’s up to the hired contractor to decide if it’s cheaper to move the bridge or repair it in place.”
“We realize fixing Caledonia Bridge probably isn’t going to be the cheaper route,” admitted Stammen. “But that’s not what we’re looking it. It’s the history behind it that counts.”
Several ideas were discussed regarding how to move the bridge, such as rolling it off, taking it apart completely, or swinging and setting it with a crane.
“Once again, it’s up to the hired contractor,” said Christensen.
The other bridge in consideration, the Viking Bridge, although not in its original location between Mayville and Portland, is considered the oldest bridge in the state, built in 1885. It was moved from its original location in 1914.
“There is only one oldest bridge,” commented historical society member Marilu Person. “Although, we are advocates for saving both bridges, we (the historical society) just want to try and save as many as possible.”
“The Viking Bridge is in a really beautiful rural setting,” said Kubischta. “And it looks like it’s going to be easy to lift. My gut feeling is that it is going to be the least costly to fix.”
Christensen questioned why the Viking Bridge was closed.
“I can’t see a real good reason by looking for it to be closed besides the deck, which could easily be replaced,” he said. “Like the Caledonia Bridge, the truss looks fine. In both of these situations, we must go back and find out the specific reasons why these bridges were closed in the first place.”
“There are pluses and minuses to both,” Person admitted. “I vote for saving both.”
“Wish we could,” agreed Stammen. “Besides historic value to the state,” said Christensen, “you have to examine the structure.” Serious rust problems on the truss, and the amount of replacement parts all has to be looked at, he suggested.
“When you have to start replacing rusted parts, such as the rivets, it gets to a point where hardly any of the original bridge is left.”
Conversation was steered toward the considerations of Mayville and Portland residents.
“We haven’t really heard much,” admitted county commissioner Arne Osland. “I don’t think many know about it.”
The officials meeting last week suggested that public forums be scheduled to obtain community thoughts and feelings, and provide positives and negatives concerning each bridge.
“Bottom line,” pointed out Osland, “is that we have to make a choice here. Viking or Caledonia.”
“We can’t afford both,” admitted Kubischta. “Both are important, and that’s the reality here.”