October updates

• The 2008 edition of the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) was released in mid-September. I'll be incorporating the new data shortly.
• A public hearing was held last week to discuss the future of the Boonville Railroad Bridge in Missouri.
• The replacement for the bridge at Yankton, South Dakota (named the "Yankton Discovery Bridge") will open October 11. The old Meridian Bridge, a double-decker truss with vertical lift span, will be rehabbed as a pedestrian/bicycle crossing.
• Recent additions to the National Register of Historic Places include the Wallace Bridge in Arkansas, the East Delhi Road Bridge in Michigan, and Bagnell Dam in Missouri (the dam, carrying a state highway, is listed with its own bridge number in the NBI).

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New Franklin Viaduct in jeopardy

The Highway 5 overpass in New Franklin, Missouri, is unlike any other bridge in rural Missouri. A massive concrete Art Deco-ish viaduct, it rises above the town to cross a former railroad yard, now occupied solely by the Katy Trail.

MoDOT wants to remove the bridge entirely, at an estimated cost of $1.3 million, and put the highway on the ground, presumably crossing the Katy Trail at an at-grade crossing. In short, taxpayers will end up paying megabucks to accomplish nothing, while removing an historic landmark and decreasing safety for users of the Katy Trail. What a deal!

I would argue that MoDOT could better spend that $1.3 million as a down payment for a bypass of New Franklin, removing heavy traffic from the aging viaduct, while also eliminating the unsafe four-way stop and sharp turn on Highway 5 in the middle of town. Or, if a bypass isn't viable, then at least the highway could be routed along the ground next to the viaduct, while the bridge is preserved for foot traffic in conjunction with the Katy Trail.

A petition is circulating in New Franklin to save the viaduct. After witnessing the ongoing fiasco with another nearby Katy Trail landmark, the Boonville Railroad Bridge, maybe residents can nip this foolhardy plan in the bud.

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The Bridges of Doniphan County, Kansas

There has been some interesting forum discussions about the peculiar truss bridges in Doniphan County, Kansas. The Cottonwood Creek Bridge near Bendena looks like a standard Pratt through truss at first, but it has a really short middle panel that makes it one-of-a-kind. The Duncan Creek Bridge is a Parker through truss, but with only 4 panels and a very short span (86 feet) for its type. Finally, the Branch Missouri River Bridge resembles a Kingpost pony truss, but with subdivided panels closer to a Waddell "A" truss.

My guess is that these bridges were assembled from spare parts taken from other bridges. The strange designs were probably the result of improvising with available materials. A few more truss bridges are listed in the county, so perhaps more surprises are in store.

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September updates

• Fundraising efforts are underway to help preserve the remaining two spans of the Sutliff Bridge in Iowa.
• The new I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis has opened to traffic. Despite opening at 5 AM, it seems like half of the city showed up for the occasion.
• The fate of Missouri's Boonville Railroad Bridge is still in doubt. What I can't figure out is why Union Pacific hasn't been able to find other bridge spans to use instead of Boonville's. Why not do something with the abandoned railroad bridges over the Kansas River in Kansas City?

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Fate of Michigan Street Bridge Still In Doubt

Chairman of the Door County Board, Leo Zipperer, has asked Governor Jim Doyle to consider removing the historic Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay. He wrote a letter to the governor, suggesting that the state has higher priorities than renovating the 70-year-old bridge. In an interview with WBAY television news (the ABC affiliate in Green Bay) Zipperer said he doesn't want to see the bridge totally removed, just the troublesome bascule span.

Sturgeon Bay Alderman Jim Michaud thinks it's ridiculous to tear down the bridge. In in the same report from WBAY Michaud said, "That's the busiest street and the busiest thoroughfare in Door County." While the new Oregon Street Bridge, due to open any day now, will relieve a great deal of traffic from the historical bridge, restoration will keep two extra traffic lanes open across the bay. "You can't spend it in a better place," Michaud said.

"To replace it, we now know takes $33 million. To repair it is a $14 million project, so it's money well spent," Michaud said.

My Opinion: No one has estimated what it would cost to remove the bridge. As Professor Kevin Patrick of Indiana University of Pennsylvania says, "Bridges are expensive to put up, expensive to maintain, and expensive to tear down." The cost of removing the bridge vs. the incremental cost of renovating the bridge should be considered.

Leo Zipperer stated that the money could be better spent due to the current economy. The effects of the economy are short term, while removal of the bridge is permanent. After it's gone, it will be missed and if two extra traffic lanes across the bay are needed, as Jim Michaud said, it will cost $33 million to replace the bridge. That's in 2008 dollars, who knows what it would cost to build a new bridge 10 years from now?

Keeping the truss spans but removing the bascule span is about as useful as making a pair of jean cut-offs by keeping the legs and throwing away the shorts.

I agree with Michaud, the renovation is money well spent to keep the extra traffic lanes open but that is just the added benefit of preserving a living piece of history, an icon of Sturgeon Bay, Door County and the State of Wisconsin.

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"Saving these treasures is not someone else's job!"

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded a song in 1970, called Big Yellow Taxi which includes these lines in the chorus:

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone.
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.*

Concerned citizens in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin decided that the time to save a historic bridge is before it's gone. They formed a group called Citizens for our Bridge, Incorporated, an IRS 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization to do just that - save the Michigan Street Bridge from destruction. They have worked tirelessly with the City of Sturgeon Bay, Door County and the State of Wisconsin to save the bridge as not only a historical icon of Sturgeon Bay but a vital link to the economy of downtown Sturgeon Bay.

The group even holds an annual all-weekend fund raising event called the annual Steel Bridge Songfest.

Shawn Fairchild wrote an excellent paper about the group, the bridge and the efforts to save the through truss and last overhead-truss, Scherzer-type, double-leaf, rolling-lift bascule in the State of Wisconsin. He presented the paper at the Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Acheology, held in Duluth, Minnesota on June 3, 2000.

You can read it right here on the Bridge Hunter Michigan Street Bridge page.

In his paper, he quotes Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who said, "Not every community has an Independence Hall, but every single community in America has treasures that make it unique, that make it a special place. Saving these treasures is not someone else's job!"

Mr. Fairchild's paper is an excellent guide for how you can go about saving a historical bridge in your area before you learn that "...they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

* - Copyright © Siquomb Publishing Company, 1970

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Arkansas updates

• Robert Scoggin at the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department sent a copy of his office's latest publication, Atlas of Historic Bridges in Arkansas, which includes information on all of the bridges in Arkansas determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This includes several bridges that I haven't seen before. I've posted some of the new photos and information.

• The Black Nursery Road Bridge near Prairie Grove has been nominated for the National Register. This is a 1923 Luten arch. Meanwhile, John Cross has spotted another Luten arch near Prairie Grove, on County Road 20, that hasn't appeared on the radar yet because it is bypassed and abandoned.

• The winners of the Great Arkansas Bridge Sweepstakes have been selected. Two pony trusses in Craighead County were made available for adaptive reuse, with the state picking up the cost of relocating them. After they are replaced in 2010, the bridges will go to a girl scout camp and a city park in Jonesboro.

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August updates

• Ashtabula County, Ohio, is set to open what they call the longest covered bridge in the United States (at 613 feet long), leaving New Hampshire's Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge in second place. However, New Hampshire will still hold bragging rights to the longest historic covered bridge in America, while Ohio's bridge looks more like a UCEB with a tin roof.

• Could it be? An historic bridge in Pennsylvania that is going to be saved? I'll believe it when I see it!

• Missouri's plan to replace 802 bridges under one massive contract has stalled because of economic woes.

• What happens when a bridge is closed for months and nobody knows who is responsible for maintaining it? Ray County, Missouri, has that problem.

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Guest Editorial: The Misunderstanding of the Public Towards Bridges STILL Exists

Being tied up with other matters over here in Germany, I have not been able to comment much on the situation regarding the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis one year after its collapse on 1 August, 2007, although I have been keeping up to date on the situation and even collecting articles for my personal archive.

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The Michigan Street Bridge Was Closed But Has Re-opened...Sort Of

A tip o' the hat to David Yates, who pointed out on the Michigan Street Bridge page that the bridge was open when he was in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin but police were monitoring traffic at each end - which set us to trying to find out what's going on.

According to the Door County Advocate, the Michigan Street Bridge in Door County was closed on July 21, due to structural deterioration that was discovered in an inspection. According to authorities, people ignoring the 5 ton weight limit put too much strain on the structure, forcing the bridge to be temporarily closed to verify its safety.

When it reopened on July 23, law enforcement officers began to monitor traffic to strictly enforce the 5 ton limit. The Green Bay Press Gazette reported that a truck towing a trailer got past the officers, but the driver received a citation at the other end of the bridge - an expensive toll for ignoring the weight limit.

The bridge is only open 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM when Police or Sheriff Department Officers will monitor traffic. It is barricaded between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM.

The historic bridge was supposed to be replaced by the new bridge that is under construction, but a popular campaign to save the old bridge succeeded. After the new bridge opens, any day now, the Michigan Street Bridge is scheduled to undergo rebuilding.The Wisconsin DOT will keep the bridge open for now, but an estimated $13 million restoration is due to begin next March. The bid process is still open, in case you'd like to get in on the action.

(David also provided the photo of the bridge.)

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