Bigfork bridge replacement to begin this December

Montana Department of Transportation hosted an open house on Bigfork’s Bridge Street Bridge replacement on Thursday, with the project now slated to begin in early December.  

The over 100-year-old bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An exhibit by Bigfork Art and Cultural Center with help from volunteer and local historian Ed Gillenwater on Thursday displayed old-time photos of the structure, way back to when it was made of wood. First built in 1907 for $2,500, it was replaced with the current steel structure in 1912 after the first road along Swan River from Bigfork to Ferndale was built.  

Public comment reinforced the local importance of the bridge when it was closed in early 2024 due to structural concerns.  

“The engineering will have changed a little bit because of time, but what you see will look very similar,” MDT district construction engineer John Schmidt said. “We recognize the iconic nature of the old bridge, we had lots of meetings with the community and how important that was to them, so the new bridge is very directly modeled after the old bridge.” 

The new bridge will still be single lane with a pedestrian walkway, though that walkway will be widened slightly for accessibility. It will also have the capacity for emergency vehicles to travel across the river, which was not possible on the deteriorated bridge. 

Battle Ridge Builders of Belgrade was awarded the contract for the project, totaling $2.6 million. Funding will be split, with 86.6% federal, 13.4% state, and a $50,000 county contribution. The bridge is Flathead County-owned, with MDT heading the reconstruction efforts.  

“[The contactors’] plan is to start the first week of December with some initial stuff that has to happen; getting set up, staging, and then they’ll get the crane, they’ll start removing the old bridge,” Schmidt said.  

With some scheduled breaks around the holidays and Memorial Day, as well as the spring Whitewater Festival, work is set to be complete in late June, weather permitting.  

Work will take place Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Traffic patterns will remain largely the same during construction, with contractor activities to take place mostly on the south side of Bridge Street. Sliter’s Park will be closed to the public until the project is complete.  

After nearly a year of Bigfork being split, MDT hoped that the project would be completed in time for summer activities. Bridge Street Bridge has historically been involved in Bigfork’s parades and local traditions.  

“We’ve done a lot of preparation up to this point, it feels like it’s taken a lot of time to get here. We’re hoping to make the transition to the bridge being reopened as painless as possible, and we’re going to work hard at it,” Schmidt said.  

During construction, updates will be distributed weekly via email, text message and on the project’s website. To receive text updates, text bigforkbridge to 41411.  

Those with questions or concerns can contact Sloane Stinson at sloane@bigskypublicrelations.com or call the project hotline at 406-207-4484, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on the Bridge Street-Bigfork project, visit mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/bigforkbridge.