Category Archives: Around Bismarck-Mandan

The last car to cross the old Liberty Memorial Bridge was a motorcycle

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That’s right. As a big proponent of motorcycling in North Dakota, I’m pretty happy to say that a motorcycle closed the books on “civilian” travel over our beloved bridge. If I may digress for a moment, I’d like to point out that this bridge was scary/fun back on a motorcycle back when it had the metal deck! Not only could a rider look straight below and see the water, but the gridwork made motorcycle tires “swim” back and forth in a manner most discomforting at first. Digression aside, those fine folks in the picture above were blocking off public traffic on this bridge forever. Maybe they sensed that I am a former DOT employee, maybe they were just being polite…in any case, they allowed me to park my motorcycle off to the side and wait to be the last guy across.

Someone in a white Ford Thunderbird actually got in behind me after I took off across the bridge from the Bismarck side. At that point I thought I’d missed my chance to be the last person across the bridge, and resigned myself to simply being the last motorcycle across. But an idea struck as I reached the Mandan side: turn around. Not only did I want to take more pictures, but I had to get back to work! I’m very busy and didn’t have a very long lunch break. So, when I got to the Mandan side, I did a quick U-turn and headed back. That made me the last motorcycle and last vehicle to cross.

This is what it looks like to have the Memorial Bridge all to yourself…that is, if you’re on a customized Suzuki with a camera hanging around your neck. This will live on as my last view of the bridge I’ve known all my life, even when I was living in Montana as a kid and looked forward to the “humming bridge” when we’d come to Bismarck to visit family.

My sources tell me that someone called KFYR-TV after their newscast to complain that he was the last guy across. That would have to have been either the person behind me in the white car, or the last person to come across from the Mandan side (before I did my u-turn). In any case, nobody came across from the Bismarck side after the white car and I, and nobody came across from the Mandan side after I did. I know because I sat at the red light on the east end of the bridge for what seemed forever, since I was wearing leather riding gear and was very hot. Nobody came up behind me. Sorry, whoever you are…the reports are accurate.

Farewell, beloved bridge. I’m glad I got to say goodbye.

Just as I got to drive on the Expressway Bridge shortly after it opened (I had my permit, my mom let me drive) I got to ride on this bridge right before it closed. I know, it’s odd to be so sentimental about local landmarks…but what can I say? I love Bismarck-Mandan. I always have. That’s why I started this website in the first place. I’m just thankful that I have a camera and can run around after things like this. It’s cool to document Bismarck-Mandan history and provide a viewpoint for the record.

By the way, I noted again today that Brad Feldman seems to have the same sort of sentimentality for our town. I really like his Around Town segments on KX news, as well as his knack for local information. I could tell from the tone of his report on the bridge closing on tonight’s news. It’s cool to see someone who has a love of their community and what’s going on here. Hopefully people who read my ramblings here will catch that sentimentality, then things like this bridge closing will seem a little more significant.

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If you’ve ever had a loved one undergo surgery at Medcenter One, you may have spent time here: the second floor Surgery Waiting Room. It’s a spacious place, with one computer to browse the Internet, several televisions, and lots of magazines. Some of those magazines are older than I am…I’m referring to their stack of National Geographics.

It seems to me the stack was larger last time I came through here, but perhaps it’s just more orderly. Tucked away in the corner, these magazines range back to the early 1960’s. I can’t help but take myself back in a timewarp (in a periodical sense) every time I’m in this room, and it does help pass the time very quickly while someone else is hogging the Internet computer. Hopefully they’re reading this blog, at least.

What a blast, reading about what we might find if/when we get a man on the moon! This particular issue talked about photos sent back by the first Surveyor probe sent up by NASA. Pretty cool, huh?

If you find yourself stuck at the hospital for a while, peruse this stack. It’s very interesting to look at the ads from nearly fifty years ago, as well as the photos and the articles. I remember reading one about some little Pacific nation called Vietnam, long before the Democrats started their ill-fated military action there. There are lots of camera ads, of course. Cover to cover, it’s neat to get such a glimpse at the past.

If you do find this treasure of magazines, please do your part to make sure that they stay right there in the waiting room where they belong, providing enjoyment for people who probably need to get their minds on something other than the person for whom they’re waiting.

So I suppose you were wondering why they closed River Road…

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No, I had nothing to do with it! There I was, minding my own business, driving down River Road on my way home…when I found two of Bismarck’s finest blocking the road. Being the curious sort, I hopped out and asked what was going on. They gave me permission to go poke around…who could resist?

I guess a pretty big wall of water came flying out of the water treatment plant’s grounds when this whole debacle started. When I left, they were still wondering whether River Road should be inspected to make sure it wasn’t washed out underneath. Lots of dirt from the construction site of the treatment plant itself had been washed away, and there was a reddish brown streak in the Missouri River where the dirt was being deposited. The water was still deep in a few places, but had mostly spread out in about a 75 foot wide flow across the river and the bike path.

Boy, that’s going to be fun to fix. And that isn’t even the water problem! Upgrades to the water treatment plant have been taking place for a long time, and it looks like the road was about to be built. Now they’ll have to do a lot more groundwork before that can take place…and that’s after they repair whatever caused this mess in the first place!

Things got even more interesting; the officer I talked to said that there had been two water main breaks tonight already. I wonder if any of these things are related? Perhaps the water system is similar to an electric grid; when part is shut down, it causes more stress in other places. In any case, if you work for the City of Bismarck and have anything to do with water or digging, you probably got a call Monday evening. Those of us who are city employees but don’t lift a shovel…well, I guess I’ll just take pictures and type, as usual.

Any landing you can walk away from…

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One of my mountain biking buddies and I were comparing photos a couple of weeks ago and I found this gem in his collection. He gave me permission to share it with y’all, so I thought I would take the opportunity to do so. The tractor above was mowing near the sagging walls on a hill along west Century Avenue when a section of the wall decided it had had enough. Fortunately the tractor operator was okay.


The same cannot be said for the wall; however. The same sort of upkeep that had left sections of the wall sagging in the first place has also left a pile of bricks where the incident occurred. I don’t remember the date of this particular rollover, but it’s been a while…plenty of time to repair the wall. In the mean time, I wonder how they mow around it?

Very serious, very fundamental defect spotted on the new Liberty Memorial Bridge

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Take a look. Do you see it? I saw it right away after the bridge caught my eye. I was driving west on Memorial Highway, on my way to Mandan when I spotted it. I suppose it’s because they have removed a lot of the construction materials from the bridge as it nears completion. Do you see it yet?

I have to say I’m really disappointed. Ever since the day I attended the groundbreaking where the various mayors and senators congratulated each other and the architect drawings (done by my friend Alex, by the way) were unveiled, they’ve been talking about how this is going to be a site of interest with lots of foot traffic and memorial parks at either end. That’s why I can’t believe the oversight I spotted this week: there is no walkway on the north side!


Question: how is a person going to get a view like this without dodging traffic on the new bridge? Answer: they aren’t. There’s a walkway on the south side of the bridge, but the only time of year the sun sets on that side of the bridge is in the dead of winter. Not aesthetically pleasing, and cold on top of it. Sad.

I give the new bridge a big thumbs-down for this fact alone. If offered the choice of a walkway on the north or on the south, I’d have definitely recommended the north. Sadly, that choice wasn’t mine to make. Oh well, maybe they’ll make a wide shoulder and I can dodge traffic to get the right shot. In the mean time, I’ll just have one more thing to whine about!

How much courage does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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These guys are hanging the lighting beneath the new Liberty Memorial Bridge. Rather then try to do it from below, which would be pretty tricky in most spots, they got themselves a contortionist truck and went over the side. Better them than me.

I don’t care much for scaffolds, ladders, and the like. I didn’t like heights at all in general until I spent some time working at the Big Sky Ski Resort back in the late 80s and early 90s. Countless trips on various chair lifts and gondolas solved that. I’m still a bit leary of things like bucket trucks, though…so to have to venture over the side of the bridge like that would freak me out.

There’s only one exception: if I’m holding a camera, of course! My friend Chris and I spent some time atop a fully extended Datsun forklift over at Cycle Hutt this weekend. It was a little wobbly in the breeze on Friday, but otherwise was fine. Saturday I worried a little bit about lightning, as some wet-looking clouds rolled in. I just kept my eye to the viewfinder and kept shooting.

Iron Eagle

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I was reminded of this statue when I saw that the movie Iron Eagle was on satellite a few days ago…you know, the one where the American fighter jets apparently carry five million rounds of ammo and ten thousand missiles? At least it seems that way, because they never seem to run out. Anyway, I digress. The last time I took any pictures of this big eagle, the weather wasn’t as nice and I didn’t have a wide enough lens. Both of those were remedied yesterday, so I climbed around for a few different angles. Given the position of the sun and the fact that I had errands to run, this one turned out to be my favorite. A little later in the day, a photo from beneath the eagle would be really cool. Another time, perhaps.

This statue is 20 years old this year. Although Eagles Park has been around seemingly forever, it’s interesting to note that the statue that features so prominently (even from Washington Street a block away) is a relatively new fixture.

How about a lift?

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I happened to be south of Mandan a couple nights ago and caught the silhouette of one of the ski lifts at Huff Hills against the sunset sky. I don’t know if they run these during the summer, but I would guess that they don’t.

I used to work for mountain operations at Big Sky back in the 80s. For part of that time I ran a ski lift or gondola, depending on the day. Later on I was simply paid to snowboard…not a bad gig if you can get it! Big Sky runs some of their lifts in the summer for hikers and mountain bikers, and while I know some guys like biking Huff Hills, I don’t think they get to take the easy way up the hill.

One of my mountain bike friends heard the metallic sound of something striking his bike frame as he went down the hill out at Huff. In the instant that he looked down, he saw that it was a rattlesnake that had been surprised by his fast descent and struck at his bike. Thankfully the snake hit the bike and not his leg! I wonder if you can chip a fang on titanium…

The Grant Marsh situation

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With all the talk about the need to replace the ailing Memorial Bridge, I hadn’t heard a peep about the good ol’ Grant Marsh lately. That’s why I was surprised to see this nastiness above one of the support columns, near the boat landing. That doesn’t look very healthy, does it?

I did a quick web search to see if there were any reports of this repair, but didn’t come up with anything before having to dash out the door. Thankfully someone’s getting after it. I don’t know how much of that eroded away naturally and how much was chipped away to begin repairs, but the fact that it had crumbled so badly is not very reassuring. It looks like the rest of the support is going to get a treatment as well, judging by the scaffolding.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t such a great idea to have drainage hammering down on the end of that concrete support over the years. I’d chalk that up to a design problem. The black bandaid hanging there is supposed to help divert things, but I’m sure the damage had already been done long ago. Now it’s a matter of trying to patch it up.

I saw a report on TV many years ago (I think I was still with NBC, actually) that talked about the disrepair of the nation’s bridges. I thought it was a little unsettling then, but with two of Bismarck-Mandan’s major bridges showing such extreme wear I’m between unsettled and alarmed! Thankfully it looks like someone’s on the situation, and we don’t have to deal with the thing collapsing before paying attention to the condition of its supports.

In the mean time, maybe I’ll use the Expressway Bridge. 🙂