BISMARCK, N.D. — The preservation group seeking to prevent BNSF Railway from replacing its more than century-old bridge over the Missouri River is asking two North Dakota agencies to hold a hearing on permits needed to build a new bridge.
The Friends of the Rail Bridge, which wants the current Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge — parts of which date to 1882 — preserved as a walking and biking trail, is asking the state departments of Environmental Quality and Water Resources to conduct an administrative hearing, the Bismarck Tribune reports.
The move comes after the U.S. Coast Guard concluded in an environmental review that the best course of action is to build a new bridge about 20 feet upstream from the current structure and to remove the current bridge [see “BNSF near permission to replace …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 3, 2022]. The project still needs a “record of decision” finalizing that position, as well as a federal construction permit and a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers related to work within the river. Those could come as soon as this month, the Tribune reports.
But the preservation group claims the decision by the Coast Guard — which is involved because the bridge spans a navigable waterway — didn’t seriously consider the preservation alternative. It also continues to contend the state owns the bridge, a position the state has twice declined to rule on [see “State again declines to address Bismarck rail bridge ownership,” News Wire, May 10, 2022]. The railroad has called that argument “absurd” while the Coast Guard said BNSF has “clear title” to the bridge.
A 2019 study estimated the cost of preserving the structure as a foot bridge at just under $7 milliion.
BNSF, which has pending permits for the bridge project dating to 2017, called the latest effort by the preservation group “disappointing” in a statement to the Tribune, saying delays in the project have “real consequences to all the North Dakota industries that rely on safe and efficient transportation.” The bridge has long had a 25-mph speed restriction because of its age and reliance on piers that are non-reinforced stone masonry.
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