Noxon bridge closed

In February, the town of Noxon suffered the loss of three businesses to fire. Now, the community is facing another challenge. On Friday, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) ordered an emergency closure of the Noxon bridge after cracks in the structure were discovered in an inspection of the bridge. Now the county is working to find a solution and reopen the bridge.

The Noxon bridge connects the town to Highway 200 and is the primary entrance and exit for the community. There are alternate routes, including a back road to Heron and over a mountain road to connect to Marten Creek near Trout Creek. However, the bridge is vital to the community.

After receiving notice from MDT, Sanders County commissioners had crews place cement barriers and signage at the bridge entrances to deter traffic.

"We know this is vital for the community and we are working on a solution as quickly as possible," Commissioner Tony Cox said Saturday. "We are hoping to have the bridge open within two weeks."

Cox said that even if the bridge reopens, the bridge is still in need of rehabilitation or replacement. The county this spring spent $20,000 for Morrison-Mairle to complete a study on the bridge. That report is set to be released this week. "We need to either rehabilitate or replace the bridge. It's 102 years old. It needs to be fixed," Cox added.

Commissioner Cox said the county is developing a plan to re-open the structure. A contractor, Neal Structural Repair, has been procured and will be working on the repairs this week. NSR will work with the county and engineering firm Morrison-Maierle.

On Friday, commissioners declared a state of emergency in order to access funds to ensure the road between Noxon and Heron is watered for dust abatement due to the increased traffic. It was reported that early Saturday morning an individual with heavy equipment removed the cement barriers and signage at the ends of the bridge in order to allow traffic to use the bridge again. County crews had to go replace the barriers. The incident was reported to the Sanders County Sheriff's Office and the county replaced the barriers and signs. Sheriff Shawn Fielders said an arrest was made Saturday and Mark Bulger of Trout Creek was charged with felony criminal endangerment. He stated that residents let officials know where the equipment was parked. "It wasn't a hard thing to investigate."

Sheriff Fielders said the bridge is open for foot traffic and that deputies are patrolling the road from Noxon to Heron. He encourages people to not disrupt the concrete barriers that are in place. "There's a reason the bridge is closed."

Emergency services in western Sanders County were coordinating with the county and Avista to develop a plan to make sure services are not interrupted. Jim Byler with the Noxon fire district said that they had permission from Avista to cross the Noxon Rapids dam. "Both the ambulance service and Noxon Fire have plans in place and are prepared to respond appropriately despite the bridge closure. There are ambulances and responders stationed in all three of our served communities, with mutual aid agreements in place with our neighboring ambulance agencies," Byler stated. "While we hope there aren't any emergencies, we are all prepared to respond when needed."