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By NEIL O. NELSON

Blanchard saw its bridge sent down the road.

Caledonia is being told its bridge is falling into the Goose River.

There’s still time, however, to save and restore the oldest highway bridge in North Dakota.

Traill County commissioners have accepted the recommendation from its engineers and will — along with the state’s historical society and highway department — attempt to save and rehabilitate the Viking Bridge, built in 1888 north and east of Portland. 

Commissioners have been debating which bridge — the Caledonia Bridge or the Viking Bridge — to save since they learned state money is available to rehabilitate one of the two bridges, but not both.

Both structures have historical value. The two bridges are not only the two oldest in the county and region but carry much the same distinction statewide.

Plus, both bridges have loyal supporters.

Arguments, too, make the case of saving both bridges. The more vocal supporters are from East Traill and favor saving the Caledonia Bridge.

“Considering that Caledonia was one of the first settlements in the county, it makes sense to save the bigger and more majestic of the two structures,” friends of Caledonia argue.

But, when it comes down to dollars and cents, the case for saving the Viking Bridge carries more weight.

As much as $700,000 in state money will be made available to rebuild one of the county’s historic bridges.

Kadrmas Lee and Jackson, the county’s contracted engineering firm, has estimated that it will cost $1.4 million to save the Caledonia Bridge. The Viking Bridge can be saved and rehabilitated for under $700,000.

The county will not spend $700,000 of its money to save a historic but seldom used bridge, commissioners hinted in meetings last year.

So, what to do with the Caledonia Bridge?

Mayville commissioners Steve Larson questioned if the bridge couldn’t be dismantled?

“I don’t imagine we can do that,” replied District 5 commissioner Arne Osland. “It’s registered with the (National) Register of Historic Places.”

“Well, I guess we’ll leave it there, for now,” said Larson.

It should be noted that the county gave away the 107-year-old Blanchard Bridge last summer to a Wisconsin contractor. The Blanchard Bridge is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Register of Historic Places at one time listed six Traill County bridges: Viking Bridge, Goose River Bridge, 6 miles east, 1 mile north of Hillsboro; Caledonia Bridge; Blanchard Bridge; the demolished Porter Elliot Bridge, 5 miles east 1 mile north of Hillsboro; Norway Bridge, 6 miles east and 3 miles south of Mayville; and the Portland Park Bridge, no longer in use.

The Viking Bridge was built in 1885, the Goose River Bridge in 1893, Caledonia Bridge in 1895, Blanchard Bridge in 1900, Porter Elliott Bridge in 1902, Norway Bridge in 1912, and the Portland Park in Bridge 1919.

The Caledonia Bridge, built by Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio, is the longest bridge of its kind in the state. It is a pin-connected Pratt through truss bridge with an iron superstructure. The bridge was closed in 2005.

The Caledonia Bridge, according to Kadrmas Lee and Jackson, is in serious condition. The east bank of the bridge is “sliding into the river,” reports KL&J engineers. It is an “ongoing problem that appears to be accelerating.”

Rehabilitating the bridge would be difficult and costly, according to the county’s engineering firm.

Kadrmas Lee and Jackson, in fact, recommends that the county not even consider the historic bridge for rehabilitation.

The Viking Bridge, near Portland and a “better candidate for rehabilitation,” is the oldest documented bridge in the state.

The pin-connected Pratt through truss bridge with an iron superstructure was built by C.P. Jones of Minneapolis in 1885.

Originally called the Mayville-Portland Bridge, spanning the Goose River between the frontier owns, the structure was moved to its present site in Viking Township, 1 miles west and 1 mile north of Portland.