HUNTLEY — As summer road construction ramps up across Montana, drivers should expect to see plenty of orange cones, flaggers, and one-lane traffic, especially in areas like Huntley and Joliet, where bridge rehabilitation projects are underway.
It’s all part of a $6 million project on three key bridges, including completed work done last year on the Blue Creek bridge spanning the Yellowstone River.
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The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) says it's aiming to tackle aging infrastructure head-on.
The agency has committed to investing $1 billion over the next five years to repair or replace 200 bridges statewide, which is about 40 bridges each year in counties across the state.
Aging infrastructure needs urgent fixes
At the North Avenue Canal bridge in Huntley, Senior Project Manager Shane Johnson is overseeing construction where years of wear and tear have taken their toll.
"This deck is pretty old… not sure what year it was built," Johnson said. "Let’s say it’s 40 years old."
The bridge, which sees roughly 1,000 vehicles cross it each day, shows signs of age.
Cracks have formed, rebar is visible, and multiple patches have been added over the years.
"And it’s just wore down in spots, especially where traffic is driving," Johnson said.
Located along a key commuter route for residents of Shepherd and Huntley heading into Billings, the bridge is now undergoing a partial deck replacement.
"This is a bridge rehab project, and we are going to take off part of the concrete deck and replace it," Johnson said.
Similar work is being done in Joliet on another heavily traveled bridge, as the transportation department works to address what it calls a critical need.
One in five bridges at end of life
Montana has about 5,000 bridges, and, according to the MDT and approximately 1,000 — 20% — have reached their designated 75-year lifespan.
Over the next decade, more are expected to reach that milestone.
"We have severely aging infrastructure," said Ryan Dalke, an agency statewide pre-construction engineer. "The big thing that we are really faced with the big challenge is bridge infrastructure needs. It’s expensive to replace a bridge. Those needs outpace the available funding we have by an order of magnitude."
To stay on top of repairs, the transportation department inspects state bridges every two years. The results help determine which structures are prioritized for repair or replacement.
"If you take that average lifespan of 75 years, that is what we are mostly dealing with," Dalke said. "But there are other deficient bridges that come up like damage, advanced deterioration requiring closure and that kind of thing."
Montanans have already seen such emergency closures in recent years, which is why MDT says the time to act is now.
Building for the Future
Back at the construction site, Johnson says maintaining and updating these structures is just part of the job, but one that’s becoming more urgent.
"I’ve been here long enough to see a lot of projects that we have worked on, and we are going to work on them again," he said. "Many of our bridges in Montana are pretty old and it’s time we went and did the maintenance work to keep them in as best of shape as we can."
With federal dollars in place and crews mobilized, transportation officials hope Montana’s next generation of bridges will last as long as the ones they’re replacing.
"It should be good for a long time," Johnson said.
