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Long X Bridge project progresses but funding, timeline unclear for US 85 expansion in North Dakota

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A 2.2-mile segment of U.S. Highway 85 is under construction to replace the 60-year-old Long X Bridge and realign the roadway as part of an expansion project for the highway between Belfield and Watford City, N.D. The bridge segment is the only part of the project that has taken shape, as future funding remains unclear for the rest of the expansion. The $34 million bridge project is to be completed by July 2021. A new bridge is expected to be open to traffic in fall of 2020. U.S. Highway 85 is an arterial route through the Bakken Oil Patch. Jack Dura / Bismarck Tribune

BISMARCK — Future funding remains unclear for the U.S. Highway 85 four-lane expansion from Belfield to Watford City through the heart of North Dakota's Bakken Oil Patch, but construction in the Long X Bridge area is humming along.

It's the only segment of the estimated $479 million, 62-mile project to yet take shape. North Dakota's Department of Transportation in February released its final environmental impact statement for the project, outlining its preferred construction. So far, the project has progressed only on the 2.2-mile segment in the Long X Bridge area in the Badlands near Theodore Roosevelt National Park's North Unit.

The bridge project


That project, which began with erosion control work in mid-July, will replace the 60-year-old, narrow, two-lane bridge and realign the roadway over a new, four-lane, open-deck bridge to be opened to traffic in fall 2020. A wildlife crossing under the highway one-third of a mile south of the bridge also is part of the project.

Project manager Mike Fanelli expects the state-funded $34 million bridge project will near about 50% completion this season, with half the earthwork done and all six substructures in place, including piers and foundations for the new bridge.

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"We are going as long as conditions permit," he said of the season's work.

He plans to have river-section concrete girders set for the new bridge this winter in advance of spring runoff to avoid delays due to high water. There's also work to pave a southbound detour south of the bridge and pave a widening of the same lane north of the bridge to facilitate work in 2020.

Any remaining girders will be hung in 2020, the deck and parapet walls will be installed on the new bridge, and its paving and remaining earthwork will be completed.

After traffic is routed onto the new bridge, crews will conduct salvage and demolition of the old crossing, and also finalize any work to be completed by the July 2021 contractual deadline.

The new bridge will be 30-40 feet east of the current crossing.

Other segments


The Long X Bridge corridor is used by 4,200 vehicles a day, according to a Transportation Department traffic count. Highway 85 is a major artery for heavy oilfield traffic traveling in western North Dakota.

"We have just an unbelievable number of oversize, overweight loads that hit 85," said Sen. Dale Patten, R-Watford City, whose legislative district is bisected by the highway.

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He's sought to secure funding for the expansion and hopes to see the 30-mile segment from Watford City to the state Highway 200 intersection near Grassy Butte completed in two to four years.

The 2019 Legislature gave the Transportation Department up to $50 million in borrowing authority from the Bank of North Dakota intended for the project from Watford City to the bridge, should matching federal funds come into play.

North Dakota's Transportation Department has submitted grant applications for the project. One has been unsuccessful, while another will be decided later this year.

The expansion would be eligible for regular federal funds, according to Matt Linneman, a materials and research engineer for the Transportation Department who was previously the expansion's project manager. However, diverting from North Dakota's current share of federal funds would be at the expense of maintaining other roadways in the state, he said.

There is another segment of Highway 85 with identified federal funding -- a $10 million project to mitigate or stabilize a slow-moving landslide on the roadway north of the Long X Bridge and accommodate the section for the future expansion. That project, still in development, likely will happen in 2021.

Segments of the Highway 85 expansion are prioritized, Linneman said. The Long X Bridge was No. 1, followed by Watford City to Highway 200, then Highway 200 to Belfield. Construction would likely be planned in 8- to 10-mile segments, according to the environmental document.

Extensive public meetings were held as to how to engineer and route the expansion in Fairfield, a tiny Billings County town on the highway. Linneman said public input indicated a preference for the road to remain on its path through town at its 45 mph speed limit.

The Belfield-to-Watford City expansion is a bit of a different animal than the $300 million Watford City-to-Williston expansion completed in 2015, Linneman said, most notably for a 7-mile stretch of "environmentally sensitive" Badlands south of Watford City. Any timeline to complete the full project is dependent on funding, he said.

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"In terms of Belfield to Watford City, the entire expansion, the short answer is right now there’s no funding identified for to build any of those segments," Linneman said.

Salvaging the Long X


When the Long X Bridge is replaced, a 250-foot portion of its southern span will be salvaged for Linton-area rancher Paul Silbernagel, who is adopting the bridge to install over Beaver Creek on his land.

He anticipates receiving the bridge in 18 months to two years, to be reassembled after its transport. He's not yet sure of the costs to relocate the bridge.

Reassembling the bridge also would depend on the time of year when he receives it, he added. He adopted it for two reasons.

"First of all, I can use it," Silbernagel said, "and second of all, I think it’s a good bridge yet."

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