Engineering report spurs hope for bridge
<p>The December 2009 report recommends that the Red Bridge's center pier be entirely replaced, along with all the steel deck stringers.</p>
A Columbia Falls businessman who is spearheading an effort to restore the historic Red Bridge in Columbia Falls noted on his Facebook page that he had “great news” to report.
Greg Fortin said he recently received a copy of an engineering evaluation of the 113-year-old bridge and “although there are a number of issues that the bridge is facing, the main structure of the bridge has been very well preserved.”
“With this new document, I should be able to start looking for estimates and putting numbers to the renovation,” he said, adding that, “We have a fantastic company that is willing to take a look at our bridge.”
Fortin said the next steps would be to “look at easements, have discussions with land owners, create a vision for this bridge and our community, and then look for funding.”
The engineering evaluation Fortin referred to was a “Routine structural inspection and measurement” report completed for the Flathead County Road and Bridge Department by HDR Engineering Inc. of Missoula in December 2009.
Local efforts were underway at the time to restore the bridge as a bike path and tourist attraction.
In the report’s cover letter, HDR project manager Bradley Miller said that “in general, the trusses are in excellent shape with some minor exceptions,” thanks to Montana’s dry weather and the bridge’s design, which prevented pooling water and debris from rusting out key bridge components.
He noted that there was “some damage to the truss” from the 1913 flood, “when the center pier was scoured out and rotated, but this was repaired and seems to be stable.” He added that “the bridge carried traffic for over 65 years” after the flood.
Miller noted that the center pier was never brought back to its original elevation, but “in any case, it would need to be replaced if the bridge is to be restored or preserved.”
There was no immediate risk to the bridge failing, but the center pier should be replaced “if any major investment is to be expended in repairing or preserving the bridge.”
The wood decking was rotten and would need to be entirely replaced, but in addition, the interior stringers that support the decking “had extensive scaling on the top flange.”
The 442-foot long, two-span bridge was inspected by a Federal Highway Administration-certified inspector and another HDR engineer on Oct. 22-23, 2009. In addition to numerous drawings, the engineers listed 10 essential repairs and two desirable repairs.
In addition to replacing the center pier, wood decking and approach ramps, they recommended replacing all 8-inch interior steel deck stringers, adding scour protection for the west pier, installing a new railing, replacing some vertical steel tension bars, ultrasound testing the truss, replacing some pin joints and painting the structure.
No cost estimate was included in the report.