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The following was written for the February 7 Delaware Gazette.
This is the bridge in question - http://www.bridgehunter.com/oh/delaware/orange-road/ (http://www.bridgehunter.com/oh/delaware/orange-road/)
Group forms to save historic bridge from demolition
MELISSA MACKEY --Staff Writer

Lib­erty Town­ship is look­ing for those inter­ested in sav­ing the 1800s-era Orange Road bridge, which has been slated for demo­li­tion since 2009.

Town­ship res­i­dent Jim Bres­na­han recently approached the town­ship about form­ing a com­mit­tee to gen­er­ate ideas on how to pre­serve the his­toric bridge, said Dave Ander­son, town­ship administrator.

The com­mit­tee will be more of a short-term infor­mal group and is seek­ing either a let­ter of inter­est or resume from inter­ested cit­i­zens by Feb. 17. The num­ber of peo­ple on the com­mit­tee will be lim­ited. So far, about three peo­ple have expressed an inter­est, Ander­son said.

The town­ship is seek­ing cit­i­zens from a vari­ety of backgrounds.

"We want to get a diverse group of peo­ple to take a look at what the options are,"  Ander­son said. "We want to have cit­i­zen input and have their fin­ger­prints on the glass, so to speak. There are some strong opin­ions out there, but hard choices need to be made."

Mem­bers of the com­mit­tee will be tasked with offer­ing ideas and options for the Orange Road bridge, which will then be given to Delaware County Engi­neer Chris Bauserman.

The Orange Road bridge, which is listed on the National Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places, was closed to traf­fic due to struc­tural and safety issues in 2007. A new bridge opened to traf­fic in 2009, which is just north of the his­toric one.

Bauser­man said the Ohio Depart­ment of Nat­ural Resources requires a plan for the bridge, whether that's mov­ing the bridge from its cur­rent loca­tion or demol­ish­ing it.

Bauser­man has met with a few peo­ple inter­ested in pre­serv­ing the bridge and said the county is will­ing to work with the com­mit­tee if a fease­ble alter­na­tive is offered.

"They've asked us to be at least part of the task force and offer tech­ni­cal assis­tance to them,"  Bauser­man said. "We're will­ing to work with them and try to help sort out what they'd like to see done with the bridge. Our com­mit­ment has been to remove the bridge from the river from the begin­ning or find some­one who wants to reuse the bridge."

The plan is to seek bids for the nearby round­about con­struc­tion project at Car­riage Drive and Ohio 315 in late spring to include an alter­nate bid for remov­ing the Orange Road bridge struc­ture, Bauser­man said. Esti­mates for remov­ing the bridge, remov­ing and relo­cat­ing the bridge and demol­ish­ing the bridge for scrap mate­ri­als would be included in the bid, he said.

"I don't think any­body involved in this at any level would want to see the old bridge there col­lapse with no care and upkeep,"  Bauser­man said. "This is some­thing that wasn't ini­ti­ated by the county or town­ship, but a group of peo­ple who want to try to at least inves­ti­gate pre­serv­ing the bridge. If we can do that within our lim­i­ta­tions, I don't see any rea­son for us not to do that."

Bauser­man said that it's the county's finan­cial respon­si­bil­ity to remove the bridge that tra­verses the river. If the group is inter­ested in putting it back together some­where else, that would have to be funded privately.

"If the bridge is ren­o­vated and left in place for some use, we've said we would pledge the amount of money it takes to remove it for that pur­pose, as long as some other group picked up the rest of the cost,"  Bauser­man said.

Sev­eral years ago, the county esti­mated that it would cost about $350,000 to make the bridge usable for pedes­trian use. That amount would be higher today, Bauser­man said.

The town­ship doesn't have much in the way of funds, if any, to help with the project, Ander­son said.

"With the state and fed­eral bud­gets being bal­anced on the back of local gov­ern­ment, we have more chal­lenges than ever,"  Ander­son said. "We're not in a posi­tion to put a whole lot of cash into some­thing like this. We cer­tainly can't use road or fire funds. It would only come from the gen­eral fund if that is a choice to be made."

Those inter­ested in join­ing the com­mit­tee should con­tact Ander­son at 740—938-2000. The com­mit­tee would get started with meet­ings this month, Ander­son said.

Quote from: Hot Rod Hootenanny on February 09, 2012, 10:24:30 PM
Sev­eral years ago, the county esti­mated that it would cost about $350,000 to make the bridge usable for pedes­trian use. That amount would be higher today, Bauser­man said.

It seemed usable to my buddies and me as pedestrians (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawmustard/5744204150) last May. Certainly the expense can't be too much greater. :)

Quote from: rawmustard on February 10, 2012, 10:33:02 AM

Quote from: Hot Rod Hootenanny on February 09, 2012, 10:24:30 PM
Sev­eral years ago, the county esti­mated that it would cost about $350,000 to make the bridge usable for pedes­trian use. That amount would be higher today, Bauser­man said.

It seemed usable to my buddies and me as pedestrians (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawmustard/5744204150) last May. Certainly the expense can't be too much greater. :)

Unfortunetly, the Orange Road Bridge experience has soured Bauserman on preserving any of the last three iron bridges left in the county.