Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Bridges topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve road department removal of old Highway 85 bridge south of Belfield
Summary
The commission authorized the county road department to remove the former Highway 85 bridge on the Stark–Billings county line, following a staff recommendation to perform the demolition in-house using an Interstate Engineering plan.
Stark County commissioners approved a motion to let the county road department remove an older bridge structure south of Belfield that had belonged to the state when Highway 85 was rerouted.
Todd Miller, the county’s road operations specialist, told commissioners the parcel contains the old Highway 85 bridge turned over to the county after the highway reroute. He said Interstate Engineering prepared a removal plan and recommended demolition. Miller recommended the county not bid the work out but to perform the removal with county crews, pay Interstate Engineering for the plan, and reuse or salvage materials where practical.
Miller said the county may replace the crossing with a low-water crossing or set a culvert or small pipe for the landowner to cross, and that some planking and cattle-pass material could be reused or given to nearby ranchers. Commissioners asked about current daily usage; Miller said the crossing sees about one trip per day as a field cut-across.
A motion “to allow the road department to remove that bridge and put in either a low-water crossing or a pipe” was made and seconded. The board voted in favor, and the motion carried.
Why this matters: the action removes an aging structure from county responsibility and gives road staff discretion to reuse materials and install an appropriately sized low-water crossing or culvert for the landowner’s continued access.
