Bridging a financial gap

Study says War Eagle Bridge can be fixed, but it’s costly

A utumn in the Ozarks never seems quite complete without at least one trip over the War Eagle Bridge in Benton County, usually in connection with the long-running craft fairs held on either side of it.

But the bridge has become a concern in recent years, prompting county officials to lower the weight limit to 3 tons and to investigate just how much it might cost to keep the historic structure in use.

That bridge has spanned the river below since 1907 and it is no small accomplishment to keep it open, not just for the craft fair crowds in the spring and fall but for its everyday use.

Just five years back, Benton County spent more than $640,000 on repair. But a state inspection in 2013 identified critical deficiencies and some structural problems.

That outlay obviously didn’t provide a longterm answer to safety questions about the bridge. Now there are lingering questions about why that fix didn’t work — and whether another would.

Naturally, local debate ensued over whether it should be fixed again or replaced with a new span at that site or nearby.

Popular opinion favors a fix; so it was good news earlier this month, when a preliminary engineering report indicated the bridge can be saved — if the county can find a way to pay to try again.

A caution: Just because engineers say the bridge can be saved doesn’t necessarily mean it will be. But there is some reason to hope for longer years of service from War Eagle Bridge.

The report came from Great River Engineering, a firm the county contracted with after advertising nationally. They were looking for expertise in fixing such old structures.

So far, the county is out $35,000 for the initial report, which involved working with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to determine an acceptable weight limit and develop preliminary plans for repair and cost of the project.

A second design phase is expected to cost another $78,000 and take about a year to complete.

But that spending is only a fraction of what’s to come, if the county follows any of the recommendations included in this recent report.

Great River outlined three options for the county. Option A would cost an estimated $711,837; Option B $670,813 and Option C a whopping $1.01 million.

The latter plan, which involves the most extensive repair, would allow a weight limit of 15 tons while the others would permit 12-ton limits. In the meantime, the bridge’s weight limit must remain at just 3 tons.

Clearly, lesser limits mean the bridge won’t be as serviceable as it could be.

And even the largest of the preliminary projects won’t give the old bridge another century of use.

Maybe it could serve 20 more years, according to Benton County Quorum Court members who talked about the project recently, which would allow the county to move forward with longer-range plans for a new bridge to take heavy traffic away from War Eagle.

As County Judge Bob Clinard said, the historic bridge can be fixed and returned “to at least minimal use for light traffic.”

That will satisfy the preservationists who want to see the old bridge remain in use.

But Benton County will eventually have to build a bigger, stronger bridge to carry heavier traffic.

Whatever the county does now will at least buy time, leaving the longer-term decisions to future county judges and quorum court members.

But Clinard and the court members serving now have a challenge of their own.

Money enough for any of these repairs has to come from somewhere.

The county has some alternative transportation money from the state that it might be able to put toward the project. But the county will need more and it will be the Quorum Court’s job to find it.

The search, for both answers and for money, will pick up again in January.