Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The proposed Oakesdale trestle removal project moved a step forward Monday when the county Public Works department received a permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The permit calls for the 120-foot long structure to be removed by the end of November.
A Whitman County crew will do the work, estimated at a week long. They will start after the Steptoe Canyon Bridge project south of Colton is finished.
County commissioners Sept. 5 approved the purchase of the low, wooden railroad bridge near Oakesdale with intent to tear it down. The span, owned by Union-Pacific, would be bought for one dollar, pending approval by state agencies, and taken out due to a high-water hazard.
After ice against the bridge caused flooding last winter, a meeting was held in Spokane in February at which representatives of the State Department of Transportation, Department of Ecology, Fish & Wildlife, Town of Oakesdale, Whitman County and Palouse Conservation District discussed the proposal
Hydraulic modeling on the stretch of McCoy Creek which crosses under Highway 27 south of Oakesdale would increase 1.34 feet along 2,000 feet upstream with the bridge obstruction removed.
The bridge is south of the intersection of Hume Road and Highway 27.
Whether the posts would be removed is yet to be decided. If not, they would be cut at ground level.
The project has been evaluated by Whitman County Planner Alan Thomson and the planning commission, to check for State Environmental Policy Act requirements.
The removal of the 1940s-50s bridge will be paid for out of county general funds. Road funds would not be used since it is not on a county road and does not affect one.
Oakesdale Mayor Dennis Palmer said the key concern for the town is reducing the potential for flooding at the site of the Oakesdale waste water treatment plant. Infiltration of flood water into the treatment plant means the town has to treat flood water which reduces the efficiency of the plant.
The Union Pacific line, which linked Oakesdale with the UP line at Warner, was pulled more than 30 years ago. Palmer noted the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific and Great Northern lines at one time all crossed Highway 27 at approximately the same location where the present line now crosses.
He added a buildup of silt and vegetation under the abandoned UP trestle has also reduced the water capacity of McCoy Creek at the site.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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