The state Transportation Department plans to replace the 1936 steel truss span in a project slated for the 2012 federal fiscal year, said Randle White, an engineer for the department.
"There’s a lot of concern in the preservation community and in the heritage tourism community about the importance of that bridge and the overall Route 66 corridor,” said Melvena Heisch, deputy state historic preservation officer. "They are still looking at the alternatives right now because they know that it is indeed a bridge that is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.”
At westbound State Highway 66 over the Verdigris River (Bird Creek), the structure is part of the "Twin Bridges.” Its eastbound sister span is 20 years younger. Just down the road is the Mother Road’s famous "Blue Whale” swimming hole.
"You have two major icons pretty close to each other,” said Jim Ross, a Route 66 historian who lives in Arcadia.
Archaeologist Robert Bartlett, director of the Transportation Department’s Cultural Resources Program, detailed preliminary plans for replacement of the bridge in a letter to Heisch dated December 2007, records show.
In the letter, Bartlett recognized the "historical significance” of the structure and welcomed further discussions with the State Historic Preservation Office about the matter.
"We always work with the local historical society,” White said. "What that outcome’s going to be, we’ll wait and see. The problem we have is that we have a bridge that basically is falling apart.”
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