A high-tech solution to Devils Elbow Bridge? April 17, 2009

The commissioners of Pulaski County have been working for months to find solutions and funding to repair the historic but fast-deteriorating Devils Elbow Bridge near the Route 66 halmet of Devils Elbow, Mo.

The Waynesville Daily Guide said that Dixon, Mo., business owner Jerry Plunkett had ideas that intrigued the county:

Citing the possibility of federal dollars, Plunkett said the government’s interest in renewable energy could open up doors that might have been locked before.

His ideas call for increasing safety for drivers using the structure, rebuilding parts of the bridge with recycled or reusable material and integrating renewable energy, like solar power, to melt snow and ice.

“This opens up opportunities that you probably haven’t had before,” he told the commission earlier this year. “(We can) make this not only a bridge to the past, but a bridge to the future.”

Plunkett’s ideas come with a hefty price tag— it would probably cost double  the $1.6 million originally planned and Plunkett said he could probably raise an additional half-million, but it still won’t be enough.

“Why should you folks here in this area try to restore a historic bridge when you don’t even have the money to rebuild after the floods?” he said. “You can’t pay the $1.6 million and I know you can’t pay $3.2 million, and you shouldn’t have to.

“I think you’re looking at double your amount. And I think you can get the money.” [...]

Though the changes would make the Devils Elbow bridge one of the future, its inherent design wouldn’t change much. Keeping its historical value intact is key.

“There really is no other bridge that I know of that you can do what we can do with that one,” Plunkett said. “This is a bridge of great historical culture. It’s a marvelous opportunity.”

I’m skeptical this can be pulled off. But there’s no harm with Plunkett and others trying.