PEMBINA, N.D. — The closure of the Stutsman Street bridge has put some residents in Pembina out of reach of certain recreation spots. Timelines for bridge construction remain unclear as proposals for temporary fixes have been denied by the North Dakota Department of Transportation, but a Wednesday, July 1, meeting has brought some clarity to the issue.
The bridge has been out since early June. Mainly, the Pembina Golf Course has seen its business suffer due to children and local members being unable to access the course. John Feldman, treasurer of the Pembina Golf Course, calls the bridge a “lifeline to part of the city,” and its complete closure has been causing problems.
“All of our young kids that we’re trying to groom into golfers are not golfing anymore. Our locals that used to drive their golf carts across the bridge can’t do that anymore. So, business is down immensely,” Feldman said.
Feldman is part of a committee formed to work to get the bridge opened temporarily to pedestrians and carts. The committee has expressed its concerns with the city and city leaders are hoping to meet with NDDOT to address those concerns.
The Pembina City Council has been discussing the bridge and has made efforts to get in contact with NDDOT. Council President Connor Snitker told the Herald the NDDOT reached out to the city and a special council session took place Wednesday night with NDDOT present.
In an effort to find a temporary solution, city engineers had previously inspected the bridge to confirm the original findings and put forth a proposal to open the north half of the bridge to a weight-bearing capacity of one ton or less. That proposal, along with an alternative, was originally denied by NDDOT, but at Wednesday’s meeting, NDDOT said it would review federal regulations to find a temporary solution for pedestrians.
“We’re still running down every alternative path we can right now, trying to figure out if there’s a way to reclassify the bridge or do something that would allow us to have flexibility to at least have it operating at our temporary capacity,” Snitker said.
The DOT says the critical issues with the bridge make a temporary solution for pedestrians a challenge, but language in those regulations will be reviewed. A solution could be found as soon as this weekend.
“Late Tuesday night we received word from the Federal Highway Administration that there was an option we could pass along to the city and I think that went over well,” engineer Derek Pfeifer said. “We’ve been working really hard to find a short-term solution for them to at least allow pedestrians to cross the bridge.”
A load analysis was expected to be done Thursday to assess whether pedestrians would be able to cross. NDDOT remains adamant that only pedestrians would be allowed access with a temporary solution, and golf carts would still be unable to access the bridge.
“As long as the bridge meets a certain standard, it could open to pedestrians,” Snitker said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Main issues with the bridge are spalling — or flaking of surface materials — found under the load bearings, stress cracks and splitting in some of the pedestals above the columns. At the east end of the bridge, there has been five inches of movement toward the south. As the bridge moved, it sheared the anchor rods.
Before the bridge’s closure, children would regularly play the course. Easy bridge access allowed for some to even come to the course twice in a day. Now, a six-mile detour has seen that business go away.
The detour makes its way through gravel roads, which is prohibitive to golf carts and those who were walking to the course.
“We need the bridge open, not just for the golf course, but for the kids to come and play in the playground over there to play baseball,” Feldman said. “It’s really a livelihood over there for the kids and for adults.”
Looking ahead to a permanent resolution to the bridge, Pfeifer and NDDOT are looking to the city and county to come to a decision in order for them to determine the next steps.
“Do they want to fix it? Do they want to replace it?” he said. “A structural engineer will need to do an analysis of those findings that were there and what kind of effort it’s going to take to fix it. So at this point, it’s up to the city and county to determine how they want to move forward.”
