Toston Bridge would cost Millions to Replace
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Toston Bridge would cost Millions to Replace Nancy Marks A state bridge inspector gave a bleak picture of the condition of Toston’s century-old steel truss bridge across the Missouri River during a discussion with ten Toston-area residents at the Broadwater County Commission meeting Monday.
The Toston group came with a petition signed by 300 people asking the commissioners to reopen the old bridge. The county closed it last June when construction of the nearby new Highway 287 overpass was completed, spanning both the river and railroad tracks.
Community leaders Barb DeMartin, Franklin Slifka, Bill Lane, Hal Plumer and others made convincing arguments. To them, the bridge is a necessity, not just a convenience. And in their view, someone is likely to get killed because of a poorly designed highway entrance from Toston.
Their plea was countered by John Jackson, Montana Department of Highways (MDOT) bridge inspection manager. He described it as a bridge in danger of falling to pieces due to steel fatigue and corrosion of its support piers caused by a century of river scouring. He speculated it would cost many millions of dollars to replace.
The bridge was built in 1920 and financed with a $30,000 county bond issue. It served as the Missouri River crossing for Highway 287 until 1955 when the first overpass was built by the state, bypassing Toston. The highway section through Toston and across the old bridge then became Highway 287 bypass.
During the meeting, questions came up about who owns the bridge – the county or the state, and who might be liable for damage to the bridge when it was used by Sletten Construction while the company was building the new overpass.
Several people pointed out the inconvenience of not being able to cross the bridge from their farms to get to the county garbage dump. Rancher, Hal Plummer, spoke about his need to cross the river with farm equipment between his home on the west side of the bridge to his land on the east side.
Mrs. DeMartin said there were discussions for renovations to the bridge between Toston residents and the state highway department in 1956 and 1957.
Slifka pointed out that in about 1972 the county asked for bids to replace the bridge decking. The county opted to put asphalt over the top of the wood decking. When Slifka was county commissioner the county did some repairs to the asphalt.
Slifka wondered if the construction company’s use of the bridge during the new construction might have caused major damage to the bridge. “They took heavy equipment across the bridge, not just trucks. Maybe their insurance could pay for some of the damage,” he said.
They also talked about what they think is an extremely dangerous entrance from Toston to the new highway. Bill Lane, a building contractor, described being almost hit while turning onto the highway. “That traffic is traveling 70 or 80 miles an hour coming off the overpass. You can’t see the cars coming until they are right on top of you,” he said. Mrs. DeMartin wondered if using the old bridge would not be safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and horse-and-buggy drivers than using the new overpass.
Jackson, the MDOT bridge inspector, said he had it inspected last June. He talked about cracks in the three piers, and corrosion of the steel structure itself. “In some places, there are holes two feet long through the steel," he said. "In one span, sixteen feet of the steel structure is so thin it is like lace.” He quoted from a January scour report done by his office.
Corrosion in the steel, he said, causes fatigue in the structure. “Then cyclic loading, cars and trucks traveling over the bridge, increases the fatigue. You can’t predict when it will give out,” he added.
Jackson said the piers were badly damaged from past debris building up on them. Commissioner Darrel Folkvord showed photos of the scouring of the piers where portions of the pier bottoms were missing, and cracks appeared in the east pier especially. Jackson pointed out the bridge piers sit on wood pilings that could be damaged as well, causing the bridge to move.
Commissioners asked Jackson if he thought the bridge could be repaired. Jackson replied that Broadwater County could have a professional analysis done to get a better idea of the costs. Rehabbing the 500-foot deck would be possible. Jackson said he had been involved with the $10 million replacement of a 250-foot bridge at Ennis. “This bridge is 500 feet long, so it would be probably about twice as much to replace,” he said.
The commissioners did not commit to repairing the bridge. Commissioner Mike Delger pointed out that the county already had committed to repairing the Old Town bridge near Three Forks. Commissioner Folkvord ended the meeting by explaining the county did not have money to replace the bridge or do major repairs. He suggested, since the bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Toston group could form a nonprofit organization and take over raising funds to repair the bridge.
Article Images
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PhotoCredit: Nancy Marks
Image 1 Caption: The Toston Bridge
Image 2 Caption: Damage to the bridge pier
Image 3 Caption: Toston resident Hal Plummer showing the “road closed” sign at the Toston Bridge last summer.
Image 4 Caption: Barb Demartin addressing the County Commissioners
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