WASHINGTON COUNTY, Minn. — Somewhere in the middle of Washington County there now sits a bridge to nowhere that came at an unbeatable price.
"When you can only pay a dollar for a bridge it's a pretty good day," said Ryan Hoefs, an engineer for Washington County Public Works.
Though Hoefs admits it's a day that took a couple years to get here.
Back in 2021, Brown County engineer, Wayne Stevens, told KARE 11 that they were looking to unload the century old piece of state history that connected Brown County and Renville County because it could no longer handle the loads it needed to.
"It can't take big equipment, big tractors, big combines across here," Stevens said. "For the betterment of the traveling public, we want to get rid of it, and keep it someplace else."
And about that tiny price tag, keep in mind, it didn't include delivery fees.
"The total move was about $90,000 to get it up here," Hoefs said. "It was a lot of coordination. The contractors had to basically get it out of the ditch where it was resting."
The bridge began it's commute on Thursday morning, but had to make a pit stop in Lakeville until after midnight Friday, before it was authorized to jump onto the highway and hit the home stretch.
Ryan Hoefs: "They got to Hastings at about 2am, and then we made it up to here at about 3:30 in the morning."
Kent Erdahl: "I'm am no expert but I am going to guess that this (gravel pit) is not the final destination for the bridge."
Hoefs: "That is correct. We needed a place to store it that was kind of out of the way so we could get our work done."
Though a few beams, rivets and gussets do need to be replaced, he says the bridge is in great shape, especially considering the lighter workload that awaits.
"It will be used by bikers, walkers, could be cross country skiers," Hoefs said.
It will evenutally Join a growing number of historic bridges that now connect the county's parks and trails.
"It's a big bridge," Hoefs said. "Ultimately, we might look at narrowing it, potentially, so it's quite fitting for a park trail, but a lot of that will be decided once we know more about where we're going to put it."
Locations within Lake Elmo Park and at St .Croix Bluffs have received early consideration for the bridge, but he says the site selection process will likely take a few years and he says foundation construction could add at least another $100,000 to the final price tag.
Erdahl: "So why is this worth it?"
Hoefs: "Washington County puts a lot of value into active transportation and this is a perfect way to A. preserve history and B. provide those connections over what could be ravines, waterways in a fashion that's not done every day."
Erdahl: "I heard a rumor that it might not have actually been paid for yet."
Hoefs: "Yes, there might be a rumor floating around."
Erdahl: "Is there going to be an official handoff for that one dollar?"
Hoefs: "Yeah, I think we are looking to coordinate an official handoff to make this an official purchase."
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