Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Stolen plaque
Sand Rd Bridge
This plaque was taken from the demolished bridge on Sand Road near the state line.
The Edmondson Bridge held on Sand Road from 1916 until three weeks ago when Whitman County Public Works demolished the Luten-style span.
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of a 1916 brass plaque from the now-demolished Edmondson Bridge on Sand Road near Pullman.
Last week during the demolition, county workers had the plaque, still connected to concrete, separated from the bridge at the end of a workday.
The next morning they returned to the site and the sign with its concrete block was gone.
The estimated value is $10,000, making it felony theft.
“This really disappoints me,” said County Commissioner Michael Largent. “It’s stealing from our history and legacy in Whitman County. They really deserve to do some time in jail. We’re not gonna forget this.”
The intention for the plaque was for the county’s Public Works department to display it around the county and include it as part of a required archaeological report to be prepared after the demolition is complete and new bridge is built.
The report will span the various arched bridges of Whitman County, a provision of the mitigation settlement with the Army Corps of Engineers, which approved the Edmondson Bridge’s demolition in May, after a delay of nearly a year.
“It could affect future bridge replacements under that agreement,” said County Commissioner Art Swannack.
A historic preservation group based in Texas questioned the need to tear out the Edmondson Bridge.
Last week, when the sign was taken, it was still connected to perhaps 200 pounds of concrete.
“Whoever picked it up had equipment or a group of people,” said Mark Storey, Whitman County Public Works director.
The delay in taking out the bridge came late last summer when the Historic Bridge Foundation, based in Austin, Texas, suggested the 1916 bridge should be saved.
After a historical review process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, the Historic Bridge Preservation Office and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation signed the memorandum.
A county crew demolished the original 19.5-foot wide span and built a new bridge of steel abutments for a pre-cast concrete deck. Construction began June 1.
Since last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, investigated the original Luten-arch concrete bridge, according to the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), which calls for federal agencies to take into account the effects of their work on historic properties.
An increase in traffic on Sand Road indirectly led to the need to replace the 19-foot-wide bridge on the 25-foot-wide road. The roadway serves as an alternate route between Pullman and Moscow.
The style of the bridge is named after Daniel Luten, one of the nation’s most influential bridge engineers of the early 1900s. Luten and his affiliated contracting companies built thousands of his patented designs across the country.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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