BISMARCK, N.D. — BNSF Railway’s plans to replace a more than century-old bridge across the Missouri River took another step forward Monday, while a preservation group’s effort to stop the bridge project sustained another setback.
The Bismarck Tribune reports the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality issued the water quality certification necessary for BNSF to build a structure to replace the Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge, parts of which date to 1882. At the same time, the department turned down a request from the Friends of the Rail Bridge to hold an administrative hearing on the permit request, saying no state or federal rules require one, and the concerns of the preservation group are beyond the scope of the department’s authority.
BNSF is seeking to build a new bridge about 20 feet upriver from the current bridge, after which it would tear down the current structure, which the U.S. Coast Guard has determined is the project’s best alternative. The hearing request was the latest effort by the Friends group to delay that process as part of its effort to preserve the current bridge as a walking and biking path [see “Preservation group seeks hearing …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 9, 2022]. The bridge project is still awaiting a formal final decision from the federal government as well as a federal construction permit.
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