Bridge closed

News  that the Traill County Highway Department has closed another bridge hardly comes as a surprise these days.

Rural residents, while dismayed with the news, wonder which bridge the county will be forced to close next.

In the latest closure, the state didn’t instruct Traill’s road and bridge crew to close the bridge in Blanchard Township, a coulee fire cleared the way. 

Commonplace this time of the year, a fire designed to burn a draw  worked its way down the coulee to take out the township bridge.

By the time Mayville’s fire department reached the location, the bridge was destroyed.

The bridge crossed a decades-old prairie trail, according to Scott Stammen, Traill’s road and bridge superintendent.

Knowing the bridge was seldom used, Stammen still asked the question: “Where do we proceed from here?”

Meeting briefly with Traill County commissioners at their Nov. 20 meeting, Stammen explained how he planned to meet with township officers in hopes of establishing a grid or pattern for bridge replacement.

In the meantime, he said, “we’re going to have to get used to going around (closed bridges).”

It’s a stand Stammen has taken often in the last two to three years.

“We’re losing a ton of bridges.”

With new structures costing in the neighborhood of $50,000, the commission two weeks ago entertained the idea of replacing closed bridges with low-water crossings.

While it might not work on the Goose River, Stammen said the concept is worth a try on the county’s other rivers and streams.

The Goose is largely too deep, said Stammen, but the method of cutting river banks and adding rock and gravel to the river bed could work in some cases.

We have to try keep the most-traveled roads open, he added.

In other business, the commissioners were informed by sheriff Mike Crocker that deputy Morgan Knauf was leaving the department for a higher paying position with Polk County in Minnesota.

Knauf ended her employment with Traill County this week. She started work in Hatton and the surrounding area last April.

Crocker has started advertising for a replacement.

At the Nov. 20 meeting in Hillsboro, Crocker and the commissioners agreed to accept Hatton Ford’s quote on a new Expedition for the sheriff’s use.

The 2008 vehicle comes with a $25,352 price tag. The Expedition Crocker is presently using will be given to the county highway department.