Future of Red River bridge at Nielsville in doubt

By NEIL O. NELSON

Friends of the Red River Bridge at Nielsville better hope the structure’s life expectancy will take it into its golden years.

Right now the bridge is 69 years old.

Not necessarily old, in terms of bridge years, but old enough that state inspectors are not excluding it from regular bridge inspections.

The bad news is, while the bridge is structurally sound today, should the structure become unsafe, there are no federal or state dollars available to replace it, according to Aaron Lande, Traill County’s road and bridge superintendent.

Traill County has too many bridges as it is, state Department of Transportation inspectors told Lande this week.

Lande relayed the news to Traill’s five commissioners Tuesday in Hillsboro.

There will “probably” not be any federal or state funding to replace the Nielsville bridge if and when it becomes structurally unsafe for traffic, Lande informed the commission.

Lande and five men from the N.D. DOT, in Hillsboro to complete a maintenance review of County Road 1, also inspected the Red River Bridge at Nielsville after reviewing the progress of the ongoing work on the Red River Bridge at Shelly.

Later in the day, they inspected the conditions of CRs 9 and 17, two heavily-traveled asphalt roads in the county.

CR17 runs east from Highway 81 to the Red River Bridge at Nielsville. The stretch of CR9 inspected this week runs east from Clifford to ND200A.

CR9 is scheduled for new pavement in 2013. CR17 is on the docket for new asphalt in 2015.

All roadwork, of course, depends on money available, Lande knows. And that depends largely on federal dollars made available in Washington, he added.

And that changes every year, everyone involved in highway road construction knows.

Who knows, inferred Lande, there might someday be money to replace the Nielsville bridge.

But, if the bridge were closed next week, or if the Minnesota river banks were to wash away next spring, there currently isn’t money available for a bridge replacement project on the Red River.

You have too many bridges (five) crossing the Red, the DOT inspectors hinted.

In addition to the Red River Bridge at Shelly, which is scheduled to be open early next summer, there are bridges crossing the Red at Hendrum, Halstad, Nielsville and Climax.

In efficiency rating of 1 to 100, the Nielsville RR bridge has a mark of 57.1, according to Lande. Which is no indication of the bridge’s life expectancy, DOT inspectors caution.

The inspectors did not say at what point in their efficiency rating a bridge is shut down and closed to traffic.

Lande and his crew at the highway shop were disappointed in the news.

CR17 is a critical roadway in Traill’s network of roads. In addition, the state has found money to pave the road, they argue. Its hard surface is continually maintained by the county.

Lande, however, isn’t reaching for the panic button.

The bridge is structurally sound; there’s no imminent danger of closure or cause of concern.

The bridge might be good for another 5, 10, 15 years, DOT inspectors intimated Monday.

Then again, the river’s steep banks could erode next year . . .

Meanwhile, all pier sections to the bridge crossing the Red River at Shelly are in place. Pilings are being “pounded” into the river bottom, according to Aaron Lande.

The construction appears to be on schedule, he added.

The $5.1 million bridge is scheduled to open next June.