Maine bridge on list

Cracks forced its closure in 2006

By Jeff Hage (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, January 19, 2008

A bridge in Maine Township could potentially suffer from the same design flaws that resulted in the collapse of Minneapolis’ I-35W bridge last August.

The Water Street Bridge, which crosses the Otter Tail River near West Lost Lake, was one of 59 Minnesota bridges earmarked for evaluation by the state this week after the National Transportation Safety Board determined a design error caused the 35W bridge to collapse.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced that truss bridges on 36 local roads and 23 state highways would be re-evaluated. Among those is Maine Township Bridge, which was built in 1910.

If bridge inspectors ever arrive in Otter Tail County, they might be surprised, however. The bridge was closed in October 2006, because of safety concerns that arose from cracks in the bridge’s support beams.

“We closed the bridge over a year ago because the condition was such that we didn’t feel it was safe any longer,” said Gerald Kusnierek, chairman of Maine Township.

Open cracks three-quarters of an inch to an inch wide in the timber stringers that support the wooden deck of the bridge could cause problems, said Kusnierek.

But while the bridge could suffer from design flaws, it’s not those flaws that led to the closing of the Lake Street Bridge.

“We don’t know the exact cause, but we suspect the cause to be severe overloading,” said Rick West, Otter Tail County highway engineer. “There was enough damage to the beams to force us to close it.”

At the time of the closing in October 2006, West told the Otter Tail County Board that during an inspection in 2005, no evidence of cracks existed whatsoever.

But a Sept. 29, 2006, inspection found numerous timber stringers on both ends of the bridge to be broken. At the east end of the bridge seven of 12 stringers have failed and five stringers on the west end of the bridge are cracked, according to an inspection report filed by Fergus Falls-based Interstate Engineering.

Otter Tail County’s highway department is working on the engineering aspects of a bridge replacement plan, said West.

“Plans are being drawn for replacement,” said Kusnierek, who noted that at the time of its last traffic count, the bridge was carrying about 200 vehicles as well as multiple school buses each day.

But with an estimated cost of replacement at about $1 million, the township is waiting for potential state and federal funding to help the town of 686 residents cover replacement.

If state and federal funding can cover 80 percent of costs, a bridge replacement is feasible, Kusnierek said.

Funding could be very possible in light of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s bonding bill that put a strong emphasis on bridge repairs, said West.

“The governor’s proposal is very ambitious in terms of bridge bonding,” West said. “I’m hopeful that the Water Street Bridge could be a part of that.”

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