The Nielsville Bridge was closed in 2015, and now the Climax Bridge is starting to show it’s age as well. Beginning as soon as signs can be replaced, trucks and farm equipment using the bridge will be limited to 48,000 pounds for tandem and tri-axle trucks, and 76,000 pounds for semis.
Polk County Engineer Rich Sanders said the members, the cross-bracing beams under the bridge, are rusting and deteriorating. “As you know, the Climax Bridge was built in 1957,” said Sanders. “It’s a truss bridge, and some of its members are getting old and rusting and deteriorating. The State of Minnesota had a consultant come out and look at all the members and load rate the bridge. So, instead of being able to go across the bridge with legal loads, it’s going to be reduced to 24-ton for a single truck unit such as a tandem or tri-ax. And 38-ton for semis. Once the signs are up, the bridge will be posted, and those will be the legal weights that can cross it.”
Sanders said it was determined the weight limits were the best course of action to mitigate the deterioration of the bridge as a major rehab or replacement will be required down the road. “That was discussed with the consultant,” said Sanders. “And basically, it would take a major rehab to get it back to where it wouldn’t be posted because it’s not just one member. It’s some members in the first span, some members in the second span. The discussion was, can we remove those and replace them with new members to be good. The decision was, no, we should post it and look at replacing it in the future. Whether that is five years from now or ten years from now will all be dictated by funding and what’s our priority – Nielsville or Climax.”
Sanders said the members under the bridge deteriorate faster than the members seen above the bridge as part of the truss system because of the sand and salt brine that come off the bridge. “It’s the cross-bracing members under the deck,” said Sanders. “Those are the ones that are most critical because they get the sand and the salt brine from off the bridge. Those are the ones that are rusting faster than the truss that you can see above.”
Polk and Traill Counties will need to set priorities to determine what to do with the bridges in Nielsville and Climax, according to Sanders. “It’s getting older,” said Sanders. “And not that it’s not safe, everybody can drive across it. You just have to drive across it with a legal load as per the sign. Right now, us and Traill County are looking at our priorities. We have the Climax Bridge that will be load posted and the Nielsville Bridge that is closed. So, we’re trying to figure out what to do with both of those bridges and in what timeframe to do those in. Right now, there is no plan to not replace Nielsville. There is not a plan to replace Climax. We’re sort of in the middle and trying to figure out what are best options are at this time.”
Funding was not provided for the Nielsville Bridge replacement this past year, but Sanders said there is a new application available this spring. “Our last grant application, which was last October, we weren’t funded again,” said Sanders. “There is a new application through the Federal Highway Administration coming out in the April timeframe, so we’re hoping to put in another application. And, hopefully, get it funded this time around.”
Sanders also wasn’t sure what the impact of the weight load limits on the Climax Bridge would have on making the Nielsville Bridge funding application a success. “I don’t think so,” said Sanders. “Detour lengths is one of the criteria that gives us our cost and our benefits. So, the deter length may lengthen because Climax is no longer a viable option for some of the heavier traffic, but we’ll have to wait and see. There is going to be a push, probably on the Traill side, to replace Climax first since it’s more of their priority. And so, we have to wait and see what comes out of their board. Then sit down and have discussions if they want to replace Climax first, then we’re going to have to look and see what we can do to Nielsville in the meantime to get it back open again.”
