Howell Moss

Several state agencies are working together to develop a bridge management plan that could help preserve historic bridges across Tennessee, officials said last week.

Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Julie Oaks said the transportation department has advertised for a consultant to develop the program.

“In the end, we hope to assist communities that are interested in preserving historic bridges either for the public road system or for pedestrian or other adaptive use,” she said.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Historical Commission also are helping, Ms. Oaks said.

She said no bridges have been chosen yet, but that bridges on the National Register of Historic Places and those with community interest and scenic value will be eligible for consideration.

One eligible bridge is the Marion Memorial Bridge on U.S. Highway 41 in Marion County, she said. The bridge was named in November to the National Register of Historic Places.

TDOT has announce plans to build a new Highway 41 bridge.

County Mayor Howell Moss said the county would like to preserve the existing structure to act as a walking bridge between a marina on the east side of Nickajack Lake and a park on the west side.

But the county does not have the funds for annual maintenance, he said.

“Giving it to Marion County would break us,” he said.

He said he hopes the state comes up with a plan that would preserve and maintain the Marion bridge.

“We’d have to have some funds from somewhere,” Mr. Moss said.

Nathan Holth, operator of the Web site historicbridges.org, said some states, like Vermont, have management plans for historic bridges. He said the state’s move to hire a consultant and devise a plan is a good sign that it is serious about preservation.

States are required by law to have a historic bridge inventory that is updated every 10 years, but not a management plan, he said. This could also be a good thing for the Marion County bridge, Mr. Holth said.

“It has the potential to help that bridge,” he said.

But the steps for developing a plan are too late for one historic bridge in Southeast Tennessee, said Gloria Schouggins, president of the Meigs County Historical Society. The state Highway 58 bridge was imploded in November into the Hiwassee River.

“It’s a little too late to save something that could have been a great attraction for us,” she said.

Mrs. Schouggins said almost a month ago the historical society received a survey from TDOT asking what historical bridges were in Meigs County for the bridge preservation plan.

She said she wished now that TDOT had held off blowing up the Highway 58 bridge.

“We don’t have any left that amount to anything like that bridge,” she said.