Cape Girardeau County seeking for new use for old bridge

For anyone who needs to span a gap of 49 feet or less, the Cape Girardeau County Commission is ready to make a deal.

With Federal Highway Administration funds available to replace the bridge on County Road 439 over Horrell Creek, the county doesn't want to just sell the structure for scrap. The steel pony truss bridge, the last of its kind on a county road, is in fair condition and could be used again.

Commissioners announced Thursday they will accept applications from anyone who wants the bridge.

There will little or no charge for the bridge, county highway administrator Scott Bechtold said, but the county will likely ask for reimbursement of any expenses for moving the material.

The bridge over County Road 439 has been in place since at least the 1940s, Bechtold said. The county is using funds from the Federal Highway Administration to build a replacement bridge that meets modern standards.

"This bridge was not built there," Bechtold said. "It was rebuilt in that location in the 1930s or 1940s."

J.W. Githens Co. of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was the low bidder on the $190,000 contract to remove the current bridge and build a new one in its place.

The county had originally planned to reuse the bridge as part of an extension of the Cape La Croix Recreational Trail from Lexington Avenue to the County Park. However, Commissioner Jay Purcell said, the bridge didn't fit.

"The dimensions were not what we wanted," he said. "That opens it up for this to be used elsewhere."

Instead of the steel truss bridge, the bridge that will be used to extend the trail will be of a different type that is more easily assembled.

The bridge is 12 feet wide and 49 feet long. The steel structural supports are in good shape, Commissioner Larry Bock said, and after it is taken down it will be hauled to the county's highway department shed for storage.

The commission has one person interested in the bridge, commissioners said, adding that they want to make sure no one else has a better use.

"It is just a neat, old bridge," Purcell said.

The criteria for deciding who, if anyone, receives the bridge is that the individuals or organizations interested would place the span where it would be preserved and available for public use or observation.

"We want people to have a chance to see this bridge that is no longer in service," Purcell said.

Anyone interested in the bridge can call Bechtold at 243-5270 or write to the County Highway Department, 1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo., 63755, by Aug. 1.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126