North Dakota
As bridge repairs add up, North Dakota might need to rethink approach, Gov. Kelly Armstrong says
GRAND FORKS — North Dakota has 1,325 bridges identified as needing repairs, according to a national report.
And of the 4,255 bridges in North Dakota, 11% — or 467 of them — are structurally deficient, according to data compiled and distributed by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. North Dakota ranks No. 10 nationally for structurally deficient bridges as a percentage of total bridge inventory, according to the ARTBA.
It’s a statewide problem that may require a new approach, Gov. Kelly Armstrong says, because “there is no way a local county can repair every bridge they have — especially in rural counties.” Some money exists for repairs, the governor said, but there just won’t be enough to fix all of the structures on the ever-growing list of projects.
Perhaps a better plan, according to Armstrong, is to rethink the state’s bridge grid.
“I think eventually the state and (affected) counties are going to have to work out what a 21st-century infrastructure looks like,” he said.
Because of the evolving way North Dakotans live and do business, the state could probably do with fewer bridges, he believes.
“You wouldn’t build the bridge infrastructure the same way in 2025 that was done in 1925. Nobody’s making a living on a quarter-section of land anymore; farming’s an economy of scale. Some of this is, replace the ones you need,” Armstrong said. “You’re going to have to make some tough decisions, particularly if you’re someone that lives on the north side of that bridge or the south side of that bridge and now has to go 6 miles out of their way.”
In northeast North Dakota, where numerous streams and rivers make their way into the north-flowing Red River, the number of bridges needing repair is especially high. For example, three of the top four most-traveled structurally deficient bridges in the state are in Grand Forks County, according to the ARTBA national report.
Atop the list is the Kennedy Bridge, which carries traffic on U.S. Highway 2 across the Red River on the north edge of Grand Forks. No. 2 is the Interstate 29 bridge over Grand Forks’ DeMers Avenue, followed by a Cass County highway over the Sheyenne River. At No. 4 is a rural I-29 bridge over County Drain No. 11, also near Grand Forks.
The long list of bridge repairs in the immediate Grand Forks area is enough to add a certain edge to Nick West’s job as Grand Forks County engineer.
“It’s a little stressful,” West said. “But it’s also rewarding when you can fix them.”
As reported in 2024 by the Herald, Grand Forks County has the most locally owned bridges of any county in the state, at 284. Of those, the county owns somewhere around 250 — the number changes every year, West said. He keeps a list of bridges that are most worthy of attention and tackles a portion of the list each year.
Grand Forks County Administrator Tom Ford says West is “passionate about his job.”
“He has a plan,” Ford said, “and he’s doing an excellent job prioritizing what needs attention. But you fix a couple of bridges, and as you fix a couple, other ones still on the list are aging. You just take it a bridge at a time and culvert at a time and be as responsive as you can.”
The end goal, Ford said, is to repair and fix the people’s infrastructure, “but we can only address what the budget allows,” he said.
West, Ford said, probably feels like he’s playing “Whac-A-Mole,” the old carnival game in which players use a mallet to try to strike fake moles as they poke their heads from holes in a cabinet. As one mole dives into a hole, another arises elsewhere on the board. Over time, the game has become a metaphor for attempting to complete a nearly impossible and frustrating task.
To reduce the number of moles on the board — or in a real sense, the bridges on the list — funding will always be the hurdle, Armstrong, West and Ford all say.
“I’d be lying to you if I said there’s enough (funding) to fix them all,” Armstrong said, adding that fixing all of the bridges “shouldn’t be the goal” if the state someday does rethink its bridge infrastructure.
So-called Prairie Dog funding — dollars derived from oil and gas tax revenues — has been used successfully for bridge repairs, West said. Operation Prairie Dog was created in 2019 as House Bill 1066, which made changes to oil and gas production tax distribution formula.
The bill’s passage provided a “new source of infrastructure funding for cities, counties and townships in non-oil-producing counties and airports throughout the state,” according to a description on the North Dakota Treasurer’s Office website. It allocates up to $250 million of oil and gas tax revenue per biennium to three buckets: municipal infrastructure, county and township infrastructure, and airport infrastructure.
More state money is coming, Armstrong noted.
“We did some things at the legislative session where they moved more money directly to (the Department of Transportation) through (percent of market value), and it allows for more money to be used locally, for more county projects,” he said.
During his January budget address, Armstrong touched on the state’s infrastructure concerns.
“We have construction needs, and our budget addresses them head-on,” he said during the speech.
He proposed a $464 million bonding package to tackle big projects like a new State Hospital in Jamestown; airport projects in Grand Forks, Dickinson and Fargo; and a military gallery at the North Dakota Heritage Center.
“To repay these bonds, we propose increasing the percent of market value, or POMV, which is applied to the Legacy Fund to calculate the earnings available for use every two years,” he told lawmakers.
At the time, the POMV was 7% of the average five-year balance of the Legacy Fund, he said. Armstrong suggested a 1.5% increase, half of which to be used for repaying the bonds for the hospital, airport and Heritage Center projects, with the other half to be used to support state and local infrastructure projects.
The Legislature did not go along with the 1.5% increase to a full 8.5%, but did approve increasing the POMV to 8%. A portion of the increase — 30% — will be used for highway infrastructure projects.
Still, the governor says, it’s important to think about what future travel trends hold for state infrastructure.
“The reality is, our job is to get (the state’s ag products) from farm to market as quickly as possible. What that looks like and what that future looks like is probably different than what people have lived (throughout the years),” Armstrong said. “We’ll fix some of them, (but) there’s no way we’re going to be able to fix them all.”
Prairie Business Editor Carrie McDermott contributed to this report.
FARGO — Drivers can expect to see a slight uptick in gas prices as a result of the Iran conflict.
As of Monday, March 2, the average for North Dakota is $2.65 a gallon. While that is a $0.13 increase from a month ago, it is significantly lower than prices a year ago.
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GRAND FORKS – The Study ND, formerly Humanities North Dakota, has received $15,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for a statewide theater and humanities initiative in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
This commemorative investment is meant to bring historical events and figures – such as the framers of the U.S. Constitution – to life through virtual and live performances that celebrate the nation’s history.
The grant, along with funding from private sources, has made it possible for The Study ND to host “America 250” activities after the organization sustained a considerable cut in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities last year, according to Brenna Gerhardt, The Study ND executive director.
“We absorbed a 50% budget cut, resulting in a loss of $467,645 in funding,” Gerhardt said. “As a result, we had to significantly scale back our American 250 initiatives focused on American history and civics education.”
Funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts will be used to present public readings, theatrical portrayals and guided discussions to encourage audience members to reflect on the nation’s founding in 1776 and on its democratic ideals, while engaging in contemporary conversations about civic life.
All of the programming in the series organized by The Study ND, titled “American Heroes,” will be livestreamed statewide.
In the grant application submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts, “we framed the project around a simple idea: democracy requires more than information, it requires citizens who can think historically, listen well, and argue in good faith,” Gerhardt said.
“This series uses living history performances to bring consequential figures into the room, then turns the room into a civic space through moderated dialogue and related public events. We define ‘heroism’ as civic courage under pressure, the willingness to contend with hard truths, and the capacity to enlarge a community’s moral imagination,” she said.
“The project does not ask audiences to agree on a single interpretation of a figure. It invites them to grapple with complexity together, and to connect the past to the responsibilities of the present.”
When Gerhardt and her colleagues received the application for grant proposals from the National Endowment for the Arts, “we were already planning a line-up of America 250 events and it fit perfectly with what we were already planning, so then we just wrote the grant,” she said.
Private funds, including matching funds from the Bismarck-based Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, have also been provided for this project.
Details about all the events will probably be posted on the website
www.TheStudyND.org
in March, Gerhardt said.
The America 250 events, which are planned to take place at Bismarck State College, are 5-6 p.m. July 8, “Reading of the Declaration of Independence, with John Adams,” and 6-7:30 p.m. July 9, “Alexander Hamilton Speaks,” both performed by William Chrystal.
The Living History programs are planned for 7-8:15 p.m. Sept. 17, “Thomas Paine,” performed by Doug Mishler, and Oct. 6, 7-8:15 p.m, “Frederick Douglass,” performed by Nathan Richardson. Both will be moderated by Susan Frontczak.
The performers Chrystal and Richardson live in Virginia, Frontczak in Colorado,and Mishler in Nevada.
Another program, “Hemingway and Gellhorn,” is set for Sept. 16-18 at Bismarck State College, Gerhardt said. “It is part of our broader Chautauqua/living history programming connected to America 250 … (and) will feature performances and discussion centered on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, using their lives and writing as a way to explore major questions about American identity, war reporting, public memory, and the stories we tell about freedom, conflict and responsibility.
“What I am excited about with this event is that it gives us a way to approach America 250 beyond founding-era material. In other words, it helps us show the American story is not just about 1776, but also about the generations that followed and how Americans wrestled with democracy, power, truth and moral courage.”
This program “expands the initiative beyond commemoration into reflection, dialogue and interpretation, which is where the humanities are especially valuable,” she said. “It helps us reach audiences who may be drawn in through literature, journalism and performance, not only traditional history events.”
The Hemingway and Gellhorn program fits in with America 250 in that “it broadens the frame and adds depth to the larger effort.”
Gerhardt is hoping that these activities will give participants “a better understanding of all the debates and issues going on when our country was founded, and how those debates are continuing today,” she said, “and just to be more thoughtful and informed citizens.”
College students and members of the general public will also be invited to participate in a workshop aimed at teaching participants how to build a living history performance from primary sources and historical research.
Last year, The Study ND lost a substantial amount of funding – nearly $468,000, about half of its annual budget – from the National Endowment for the Humanities for its fiscal 2025 year.
The loss of that much funding was discouraging, Gerhardt said. “Very much so, because we had a lot of activities planned for America 250 and we had to cancel a lot of them, or – like in this case – seek other funding, which we were lucky to get.”
The Study ND currently has four full-time employees, she said. “We eliminated a part-time marketing position after the cuts.”
A nonprofit organization, The Study ND provides civics, arts and cultural education programming. The organization’s programs – which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more – reached about 24,000 people in 2024, Gerhardt told the North Dakota Monitor in April 2025.
During the summer, the organization hosts a civics education program for high school and middle school social studies teachers, she said.
On this day in 1943, two North Dakota army officers, Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz and First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson, were killed in separate medium bomber training crashes in Florida and Georgia.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Army Plane Crashes Kill Two N. D. Men
Two North Dakota officers in the army air forces were killed Sunday in bomber crashes during training flights, Associated Press dispatches revealed Monday.
Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz of Harvey (Wells county) was killed with 10 others from the Avon Park, Fla., army bomber base when two medium bombers collided during a routine formation flight. Both planes crashed and there were no survivors.
First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson of Warwick (Benson county) was one of six killed when a medium bomber from MacDill field, Tampa, Fla., crashed near Savannah, Ga. Lieutenant Anderson was co-pilot of the plane.
None of the other victims of either accident was from the Dakotas or Minnesota.
Lieutenant Kuntz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kuntz of Harvey, was graduated from the army air force navigation school at Hondo, Texas, as a second lieutenant last October, and received his wings as a navigator.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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