The Missouri Department of Transportation set a “drop-dead” date of April 20 for the Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians to find a new owner for the historic span near Hazelgreen, Missouri, or else the state will dismantle it.
Facing the looming deadline, preservationists eventually shifted the questions to MoDOT about how to acquire pieces of the bridge for posterity if it is torn down.
The agency gave the deadline during a meeting Monday with the Guardians, National Park Service, Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society and other bridge supporters.
According to a report by Gary Sosniecki of the Route 66 society:
Meeting organizer Karen Daniels, MoDOT senior historic preservation specialist, and Ryan Libbert, MoDOT transportation project manager, explained that a tentative timeline already has been set for demolishing the bridge. Contractors’ bids will be opened in May, a contract will be awarded in June, and a notice to proceed will be issued in July.
Asked by a Guardian for a drop-dead date for saving the bridge, Daniels said MoDOT will need any proposals by April 20, which gives MoDOT and other entities involved in the process three weeks to review them before the bid letting.
She emphasized that any proposal for saving the bridge must be complete, that the bid-letting clock will not stop if a proposal is deficient.
Daniels explained that MoDOT made a “good-faith effort” to market the bridge for reuse for two years without success.
A MoDOT official said the bridge needs to come down because of liability concerns. Rich Dinkela, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, challenged the agency on that, asking how many times it had been “dinged” due to liability.
Another MoDOT official said there were concerns about a flood collapsing the bridge. Dinkela said a recent engineer’s inspection didn’t convey any concerns about that and “the bridge isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
A National Park Service official asked MoDOT whether an exception can be made for it to simply abandon the bridge. The MoDOT official said the state’s Constitution forbids that action.
Guardian officials said they’re hopeful Laclede County or another entity can take over the bridge’s ownership at the 11th hour.
The discussion shifted to a worst-case scenario for the span:
— Sosniecki said the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society continues to support efforts to save the bridge, but if the bridge is demolished, the organization wants pieces for display in Route 66-themed Boswell Park and at the Lebanon Route 66 Museum. Daniels said that has been done before, usually with small pieces, and that MoDOT will need to know beforehand what size pieces Lebanon wants.
— Dinkela noted that several truss bridges in Oklahoma have been preserved on concrete pillars in park-like settings.
— Jax Welborn, a Guardian from Pulaski County, proposed a bridge museum at the site of the Gasconade River Bridge. Daniels pointed out which agencies could help with a museum.
Daniels said she will send a list of those measures to those who attended and ask to rank them.
State officials closed the nearly 90-year-old bridge in December 2014 after an inspection revealed grave deterioration in the structure. MoDOT later built a new bridge a few yards away from the old bridge and Interstate 44.
(Vintage postcard image of the Gasconade River Bridge near Hazelgreen, Missouri, via 66Postcards.com)
Save and restore the 1924 National Historic Byway Route 66 Gasconade Bridge sectioned trusses for historic documentation to use for individual smaller/shorter length pedistrian bridges ALL along the way along the river’s course in nearby/shoreline parks, hiking trails, bicycle paths, camping areas,… EVERYWHERE! A noteable size bronze plaque should be posted for ALL to see at each and every rebuilt standing Gasconade Bridge truss section location. Each bronze plaque should include in raised lettering the etched in metal photo rendering of the entire bridge viewed as a whole with including: date bridge built, date bridge razed, foot length of that bridge truss section, A HUGE PARAGRAPH OF THE SYMBOLIC HISTORY OF ROUTE 66 THROUGH THE OZARKS OF MISSOURI and EXACT original bridge location GPS co-ordinents for our future generations to enjoy, explore and preserve with any other findings that clealy proved that our cherished Mother Road really did exist in 2019.
“A National Park Service official asked MoDOT whether an exception can be made for it to simply abandon the bridge. The MoDOT official said the state’s Constitution forbids that action.”
THEN CHANGE THE STATE CONSTITUTION!! I am sure the current Missouri state constitution is not as it was when first drafted, back in 1821. No law is unchangeable. As has often been said, “The laws are made by and for the people; the people are not made by and for the laws”.