AUGUSTA — When University of Arkansas at Fayetteville student Stephen Gilbert drew up some plans in 2007 for a Students Engaged in Economic Development project, he may not have realized that those plans would play a major part in the city of Augusta’s economic development.
“Years ago, I had some plans drawn up for a river park in Augusta,” Augusta City Planner Kip Davis said. “It was done as a SEED Project. … The designs were part of his final project. He got a grade, and we got the plans for free.”
Part of those plans were for a boardwalk — designed like an old truss bridge — that would go out to the edge of the White River.
“Funding never came through for the park, and we have been sitting on the plans since 2007,” Davis said.
But things are moving, now that a bridge on Arkansas 135 in Greene County recently became the property of Augusta. The bridge qualifies for the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987. The act states that prior to demolition, the bridge will be offered to a state or local government agency or a responsible private entity.
“Around 2008, a lady contacted me and gave me an article she had found in the New York Post,” Davis said. “It was about a program that the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department was doing. Many historic bridges were going to have to come down and be replaced with new ones. They were on the National Register of Historic Places and couldn’t be destroyed, so [the AHTD was] giving them away to cities that would use them.”
Davis contacted the Highway Department to get the city’s name on the list.
“The bridge given to us was in Greene County and crossed the Cache River,” Davis said. “A company was hired to remove it and take it to the AHTD offices in Pocohantas. It is now sitting there, waiting on us to pick it up. I think we have a year to get it.”
The 80-foot-by-24-foot Parker pony-truss bridge spanned the Cache River drainage ditch. The bridge was built in 1929 by Miller Garage & Construction.
Now that Augusta has accepted ownership of the bridge, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department will reimburse the city for the costs associated with preservation of the bridge.
“We will calculate what it costs to demolish the bridge,” said Robert Scoggin, a historian in the environmental division of AHTD, about how much money the city will receive to restore the bridge.
The reimbursement amount will be determined by the Federal Highway Administration and will not exceed 100 percent of the estimated cost of demolition.
“We are looking to get the bridge in place by the summer of 2013 and will be using city resources to move and set it in place,” Davis said. “I would love to see the bridge used as the boardwalk. Another plan is to include it in a wildlife observation trail that we just got funded. I think it will be a huge asset to the city.”
For more information on the bridge, call Davis at the Augusta City Hall at (870) 347-5656.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.