NEWS

Plans to replace historic covered bridge move forward

Tom Thelen
Lansing State Journal

KEENE TWP. – An effort to replace the historic Whites Bridge destroyed by an arson fire last year is expected to get a major financial boost at the end of the month.

Ionia County is close to landing a $275,000 grant for the covered bridge project through the Michigan Department of Transportation’s local bridge fund. The grant would be budgeted for the 2017 fiscal year

Replacing the bridge across the Flat River is expected to cost $400,000 to $450,000. The remainder of the money would come from fundraising efforts by the White Bridges Historical Society.

Whites Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Michigan Historic site, was one of only nine covered bridges in Michigan. It was the oldest of three bridges of its type open to vehicular traffic.

The society has been spearheading an effort to rebuild the bridge, which was destroyed in July 2013 by arson.

The state will make a final determination Oct. 31 but the project is top priority in the Grand Region that includes Ionia and seven other counties, making it likely the project will get the grant, officials said.

“The state office still needs to give final approval, but it is rare that they would not follow a regional recommendation,” said Tom Byle, a engineer with the Kent County Road Commission and vice-chairman of the Whites Bridge Historical Society.

“The group goes through each of the applications from the region and rates them based on a points system. The Whites Bridge project was the top rehabilitation project for non-federal aid projects.”

The Ionia County Road Commission submitted the grant application. The historical society is conducting its own fundraising.

Byle said the project would construct a replica of the original Whites Bridge, with the exception of steel truss rods that will be added to the new structure.

“These truss rods would not be visible to people crossing the bridge,” said Byle. “They would allow the new bridge to have a higher load limit to so that school buses, ambulances and county graders could cross.”

Byle said fire trucks would not need to cross because Keene Township is served by departments on both sides of the Flat River.

Whites Bridge was constructed in 1867 by Jared N. Bresee and J.N. Walker at a cost of $1,700. The bridge was built using a Brown truss design, which also was used in the nearby Fallasburg Bridge near Lowell and Ada Covered Bridge.

It was the oldest bridge of its type that was still open to vehicle traffic when it was destroyed.

How to help

To make a donation to the Whites Bridge replacement project, send a check made payable to Whites Bridge Historical Society to the following address:

Whites Bridge Historical Society

PO Box 55

Lowell, MI 49331-0055

More information is available at www.whitesbridgehistoricalsociety.org