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Flathead County Signs Agreement with Montana to Rebuild Swan River Bridge

Construction is not slated to begin until MDT devotes funding to the project, which could take until 2024

By Dillon Tabish
The single-lane bridge over the Swan River in Bigfork on July 14, 2016. Beacon file photo

Flathead County has finalized its agreement with the Montana Department of Transportation to rebuild the century-old, one-lane bridge over the Swan River in Bigfork.

The commission signed the deal last week and agreed to budget $50,000 to help pay for the new bridge, a project estimated to cost between $1.8 million and $2.2 million, according to county officials.

The steel truss bridge bridge, built in 1912 as a pivotal piece of infrastructure for the nascent town of Bigfork, stretches 120 feet in length over the river. The bridge was added in 2015 to the National Register of Historic Places.

Roughly 3,000 vehicles cross the bridge everyday during summer. Its three-ton weight limit is the lowest permitted before closure and prevents most sport utility vehicles and large trucks from accessing it. Without action, the bridge’s load limit was going to continue to decrease and would likely be deemed structurally deficient within a few years, according to MDT officials.

In April, after more than one year of planning and public scoping, the Flathead County Commission approved a plan to rebuild the bridge similar to its original one-lane architectural design.

Construction is not slated to begin until MDT devotes funding to the project, which could take until 2024, according to county public works director Dave Prunty.