A Bridge Too Far

A meeting was arranged on Friday to hear public comment regarding funding for several bridges in Powder River County. Grants are in the works for the projects, which include the Moorhead Bridge, and three bridges on the East Powderville Road: The Little Powder Bridge, Pilgrim Creek, and Horse Creek.

Funds for replacing the bridges (or installation of a bridge, at Pilgrim Creek) is expected to come through a combination of Federal Grants and matching funds from the county. The county is looking to attain roughly 10 million dollars in grants to cover all of the bridges. These grants would require a county match, which means that if full grant amounts are awarded and taken, the county would have to come up with 2 million dollars in funds. Commissioner Lee Randall noted that these numbers were at the high end of what they were looking to spend – if there was a way to replace the bridges correctly for less money, they will certainly take that route. Randall also commented that the funds from the county would be spread out over two fiscal years so as to lessen the burden on taxpayers; he also commented that with recent increases in oil and gas revenue, the time to fix the bridges is now, while the county has money.

The Moorhead Bridge was closed down earlier in September after a state inspector found one of the bridge pillars to be settling and leaning to a degree which would preclude safe travel, per state rating. The Montana Department of Transportation rates bridges on a scale of 0 to 9, which ratings specific to each part of the bridge, such as the deck and structure. The MDT is responsible for inspecting around 4500 bridges in the state. Moorhead Bridge’s structure is rated as a 1 or “structurally deficient”. On the MDT website, the description for the Moorhead Bridge says that the structure is “Basically intolerable, requiring high priority of replacement.” The bridge was closed to all traffic in mid-September.

The Little Powder Bridge, northeast of Broadus, is a wood and steel bridge spanning the Little Powder River. While MDT rates the structure as a 4, which “meets minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as is”, the bridge is only one lane, and has large blindspots on each end which makes it exceedingly dangerous to see oncoming traffic. Local resident Gerald Alderman remarked during the meeting that the blind spots caused by the bridge location had resulted in several wrecks over the years, including one of his own.

The Little Powder Bridge also has a weight restriction which makes it difficult for heavily loaded trucks to cross. In the event on an emergency on Highway 212, a shortcut is formed by the Moore Cut Off, Pilgrim Creek Road, and down the East River Road to Broadus. Multiple truck wrecks near Mile Marker 99 (west of Boyes near Bayles’ place) over the past few years have caused trucks and other traffic to take the alternate route, and the weight limits on the Little Powder Bridge makes it difficult or impossible for heavily laden trucks to take the cut across. Perhaps a better solution to replacing the bridge would be to simply fix whatever it is that causes the wrecks on the highway?

Pilgrim Creek consists of a culvert and roadbed structure, which has washed out three times in two years. The County would like to replace this structure with a bridge.

The Horse Creek bridge is rated a 3 by the state, also following under the “basically intolerable” description. The Bridge has had a bypass for years, but Mullanix noted that “basically every time it rains we have a mess with water coming over our bypass”.

Earlier this year when waters were running high in every drainage, Pilgrim Creek washed out and Horse Creek was impassable, which meant a number of residents along the East Powderville Road were isolated – the road was washed out at either end.

The Little Powder Bridge, Pilgrim Creek, and Horse Creek all see an immense amount of traffic in the fall in the form of orange clad hunters heading towards the vast acreage of public lands in the northeastern portions of the county and beyond. All three bridges serve a large amount of agricultural and local traffic in the Northeast section of the county and into Custer and Carter counties.

Moorhead Bridge sees a large number of hunters as well, with the hunters often staying at the Moorhead Campground near the bridge.

The ultimate plan is to take the money from the grants and replace all four bridges.

In regards to the Moorhead Bridge; the county is still planning on asking the Governor if a National Guard bridge can be used to span the river for a temporary fix, while the county is also looking for permanent options, such as a “modular” bridge which would cost less than a replacement similar to what currently spans the river. The modular bridge could also be moved, which may prove to be a good option since the bridge location may need to be moved. The river is undercutting one end of the bridge, and the state doesn’t want any more rip rap to be emplaced to prevent further erosion.

Road Department Supervisor Teel Mullanix said that one major problem with any bridge work is that contractors are busy working on other projects and it may be some time before Powder River County’s bridge projects are able to be tackled, even with funding becoming available.

At this point, no timeline is known for any of the bridge replacements. The Moorhead Bridge is the top priority, as it is currently cutting off access to many local rancher’s land, and impeding emergency travel. During the meeting, Gerald Alderman commented that while the other three bridges needed fixed, he understood that the isolation of residents by the inoperable Moorhead Bridge made it a priority, the rest was all “water under the bridge”.