State offers bridge for adoption

Looking for a unique Mother's Day gift?

How about a historic, 79-ton bridge? It's free - and the state will even chip in $50,000 or so to help pay the moving expenses.

While this might sound like a scam, it's a serious offer. The Montana Department of Transportation is looking for someone to adopt the Old Steel Bridge east of Kalispell.

Built in 1894 by the Gillette-Herzog Manufacturing Co., the 500-foot structure was the first steel bridge to cross 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. "Before it was built, people had to take ferries across the river."

The state plans to replace the Old Steel Bridge in the next few years. Rather than simply scrap the structure, it's hoping someone can find a home for it.

The bridge includes two 140-foot spans and a main 220-foot span. The former weigh an estimated 17 tons each, not including their timber decks; the latter weighs an estimated 45 tons, including the deck.

The vertical clearance is 15 feet 6 inches and the maximum truss height is 30 feet.

Axline said the Old Steel Bridge is a good example of the "pin-connected through truss" construction technique. However, the main reason he wants someone to adopt it is because of its historic significance.

Newspaper accounts written at the time the bridge was built indicate that it was seen as a major economic development tool.

The Kalispell Townsite Co. - which had only recently

started selling lots in the area - put up almost half of the $17,500 project cost, with the county covering the rest.

Bricklayers were just finishing up work on the Central School building and the first sewer lines were being laid in town. The region offered rich soils, plentiful timber resources and precious metals. The sense of industry and prosperity in the community was palpable, and the future was bright.

There was also evident pride in what had been accomplished. Two weeks before the bridge opened in October 1894, an Inter Lake story described how the Kalispell townsite was virgin ground just five years before, with only a few schools and no churches in the entire county.

"In every sense it was the frontier," the story said. "But so bewitching a spot where nature has dealt out her treasures with such a lavish hand could not long remain undeveloped."

The only cloud on the horizon was that dastardly Columbia Falls.

Feeling brash and confident in its relationship with the Great Northern Railway, the North Valley community actually challenged Kalispell for local supremacy, saying it should be named county seat in the upcoming November election.

In somewhat partisan reporting, the Inter Lake documented Kalispell's many advantages - including the new steel bridge, which was obviously more stable and permanent than the wooden bridge at Columbia Falls.

Following Kalispell's election win, a drawing of a crowing rooster ran on the front page under the headline, "Hurrah for Kalispell!"

(Montana voters chose Helena as the permanent capital in that same election, although most Flathead voters favored Anaconda.)

Historic bridges like Kalispell's typically only come up for adoption three or four times per year, Axline said, although they're rarely as big as the Old Steel Bridge.

Finding qualified takers is usually pretty difficult, he said, because "it's kind of an expensive proposition."

The state is willing to provide $17,000 in financial assistance to move or rehabilitate either of the 140-foot spans, or $20,000 for the main span.

However, Kent Barnes with the Department of Transportation's Bridge Bureau said anyone who wants to adopt the bridge has to use it and maintain it, at least for a reasonable period of time.

"We're not going to pay someone to cut it up for scrap," Barnes said. "The new owner has to have a plan for taking ownership and maintaining its historical integrity."

Similar structures have been adopted by groups building bicycle/pedestrian paths, he said, or even by farmers who have a gully they need to cross.

"If we have multiple parties who are interested, the one who maintains public access will get a higher priority," Barnes said.

Anyone interested in adopting the Old Steel Bridge can contact Barnes at (406) 444-6260. The deadline is June 15, although in reality the bridge will continue to be available until the new structure is in place.

"We'd like to get this resolved as soon as possible so we know what's going to happen to it when we write the construction contract [for the new bridge]," he said.

If no qualified groups are located, the Old Steel Bridge will be removed by the general contractor when the new bridge is built.

"It will become the contractor's property and will undoubtedly be cut up for scrap," Barnes said.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com