OLD APPLETON BRIDGE PROJECT GETS BOOST

OLD APPLETON -- The Old Appleton bridge is $200,000 closer to restoration, thanks to a check from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The state funding, coupled with money raised by volunteers, should cover costs of rebuilding and replacing the bridge across Apple Creek, said Renee Dellamano, one of the committee members organizing the restoration.

She and her husband, Art, and their son, Jan, are all on the bridge committee.

Once restored, the bridge will rejoin both sides of Old Appleton along Apple Creek. One side in Cape Girardeau County and the other in Perry County.

"The town has been divided for so long," Renee Dellamano said. "It's hard to get to the other side."

A Highway 61 bridge spans the creek, but the highway bridge is very dangerous, she said. "There are a lot of semi trucks and a lot of traffic, said Dellamano. "It's nearly impossible to walk across it. I wouldn't try it."

The Old Appleton bridge, which is more than a century old, was destroyed by a flash flood in 1982. Ever since, a group of volunteers has been working to raise funds to rebuild the structure. The bridge will be restored to carry pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Built in 1879, the bridge is believed to be the oldest iron bridge in Missouri still at its original site.

The Old Appleton Bridge Restoration Committee was formed in 1983. Restoration efforts suffered a setback in 1986 when floodwaters again inundated the town. But volunteers have stayed the course, raising approximately $100,000 through raffles, turkey board shoots and other methods.

The committee has been working to refabricate some sections of the bridge. About 90 percent of the original pieces of the structure are being used.

The bridge is put together, she said. Jan Dellamano, who lives in Columbia, has overseen much of the restoration.

Art Dellamano said the 100-foot main section of the bridge has been rebuilt.

The committee must wait for bids on replacing the piers that will hold the bridge in place and raising the bridge onto those piers.

"One of these days it will be there, and we'll all celebrate," Renee Dellamano said.

In 1985, a St. Louis man, who was cooling off in Apple Creek after exploring area caves, found the iron plaque that marked the bridge's dedication. The plaque had been lost since the bridge was washed out.

The bridge was originally constructed by H.W. Sebastian and Co. of St. Louis.

The state funding is awarded on an 80 percent match. The bridge committee will need to raise another $50,000 to match the $200,000 from the state.

The bridge project was one of 54 to get funding through the federal Intermodal Surface Expansion Act program. It funds projects for bicycle and pedestrian trails, landscaping, rail depot restoration, historic bridge restoration, highway beautification and landscaping, historic preservation and rehabilitation, and operation of historic transportation buildings.

The state has received more than $48 million through the federal program in the past six years.

FUNDS AWARDED

-- Old Appleton -- $200,000 for restoration of the Old Appleton bridge.

-- Mississippi County -- $62,000 for a welcome center at Dorena Ferry landing, including parking and rest facilities, landscaping and a historical marker.

-- Fredericktown -- $185,879 for second phase of the Fredericktown Bikeway extension historic highway lighting project.

-- Ste. Genevieve -- $487,489 for acquisition of scenic easements and water pollution mitigation from highway runoff for a hiking-biking trail.