Grant awarded to move historic bridge

In the future, those hiking or biking the Riverfront Park will have easier access to each section, thanks to a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

KDOT announced Friday the Fort Scott/Bourbon County Riverfront Authority is one of 25 organizations selected for funding through the Transportation Alternatives program with KDOT.

With the grant, the Riverfront Authority can now move forward with plans to relocate the 1902 metal truss bridge from the Little Osage River near Fulton to the Marmaton River at the Riverfront Park in Fort Scott.

After it is relocated, the bridge will cross the river to connect the two sections of the park north and south of the Marmaton River.

The grant will fund $600,000 of the total project cost, which is $751,978. The Riverfront Authority's 20-percent match is $151,978, which will come from donations over the next few months, according to Riverfront Authority Chairman Jerry Witt.

"It is to take down, repair, rebuild and move the Long Shoal Bridge to Riverfront Park and we assemble it over the Marmaton River," Witt said.

He said work on the bridge will be done by a company that specializes in such work. The Riverfront Authority has received estimates for that work in order to apply for the grant.

"It's up there and it's got trees growing through it," Witt said. "It's going to be quite a project. It will take a couple of cranes, once they get it disassembled, to lift it out. Then they'll probably take it to a field close by and disassemble it to move it."

He said the 175-foot long bridge will be sandblasted, the planks will be replaced, and some of the iron will be repaired.

"It does have a little bit of damage to it where a truck went through it," Witt said. "That's why it was closed."

He said he is unsure what year that incident took place, but the bridge has been closed "quite a while."

Witt said some preliminary engineering work has been completed, but Witt said there also will be engineering work for the abutments.

"Of course there are some hoops we've got to jump through with the Corps of Engineering, but we'll take it as we can," Witt said. "But this is a big step forward. At least we know we can get started."

Witt said the Authority began discussing and working on the bridge project in 2009 or 2010.

"(Obtaining the grant) is kind of the first phase of a lot of work," Witt said. "But now the fun begins.

The Long Shoals Bridge was placed on the Kansas and National Registry of Historic Places in 1990 for its design and construction significance.