Work begins on Drayton bridge

DRAYTON, N.D. (AP) — Work has begun on what will be the second-longest bridge in North Dakota, over the Red River near this northeastern town.

The bridge known as the Drayton Bridge on North Dakota Highway 66 and the Robbin Bridge along State Highway 11 in northwestern Minnesota is being replaced not because of structural problems but because it is prone to flooding.

“(It) floods approximately every seven to eight years,” said Ed Pavlish, assistant district engineer in Grand Forks for the state Transportation Department. “We end up closing the road down, and the detour route ends up being substantial.”

Pavlish said detours can be as long as 73 miles, if other bridges in the region are closed. During the devastating 1997 Red River flood, “Fargo and Winnipeg were the only two crossings across the Red River,” he said.

The bridge was closed in August 2007 so officials could repair a crack in a support bracket for a girder that was discovered during inspections in the wake of the deadly Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Minnesota’s state bridge engineer said at the time that the crack was not in a spot where it threatened the bridge’s stability, and the bridge reopened about four days later.

The new bridge will be slightly more than 4,000 feet long, about 400 feet shorter than the Missouri River bridge near New Town. Pavlish said the new bridge needs to be long so it can span low ground on the North Dakota side of the river that floods. The new bridge also will be more than a foot higher than the existing structure.

The bridge will cost about $27 million, 80 percent of which is funded with federal money. The remaining cost will be split between North Dakota and Minnesota, Pavlish said.

About 1,400 vehicles cross the existing bridge every day. The new bridge should be open to traffic late next year, with the existing structure being demolished the following year.

Tags: news, construction, bridge, drayton