Bridge work may begin next year
By WILLIAM L. SPENCE
The Daily Inter Lake
The Montana Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to replace the Old Steel Bridge across the Flathead River east of Kalispell.
The department recently applied for a flood-plain development permit to accommodate the new construction. Public comment on the application will be accepted through Sept. 20.
The bridge, which was built in 1894, was the first steel structure to span the upper Flathead River.
"It was a major project at the time of its construction, and really changed transportation patterns in that part of the state," department historian Jon Axline said during an interview last year. "Before it was built, people had to take ferries across the river."
Last year the bridge had to be closed for emergency repairs for a few weeks after numerous signs of rotting were found in the wooden planks on the roadway.
Other problems, according to the flood-plain application, include shifting and cracking of the steel caissons that support the truss spans, and deteriorating abutments.
The Old Steel Bridge has a sufficiency rating of 25.7 out of 100. It's subject to a three-ton weight limit and can only handle one vehicle at a time.
The contract for the new bridge is currently scheduled to go out to bid this December. The project is expected to take two construction seasons to complete.
The Old Steel Bridge will have to be closed for at least a portion of that period. The flood-plain application indicates that the west entrance to the new bridge will be about 100 feet downstream, but the new east entrance will be at about the same place as the current bridge.
The new bridge will feature a welded-plate girder construction style, with two 12-foot travel lanes, two 4-foot shoulders and a 5-foot sidewalk on the downstream side. It will be 722 feet long and 40 feet wide, compared to 602 feet and 15 feet for the existing structure.
Several hundred feet of Kiwanis Lane, Holt Stage Road and Steel Bridge Road will be rebuilt and realigned as part of the project.
The old bridge, together with the piers and western approach, will be removed after the new bridge is complete.
The state tried to find someone to adopt the Old Steel Bridge, rather than simply scrap the structure. However, no takers were found.
Anyone who wants to adopt the bridge has to use it and maintain it. They also have to pay the relocation costs, although the state was willing to chip in some money to assist with the moving.
Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com