Yellowstone bridge failure

By Matthew Brown - 06/21/2008

BILLINGS — Authorities evacuated residents by helicopter Friday from two islands on the Yellowstone River, as a bridge linking them to the town of Livingston was in danger of collapsing.

Park County officials said 15 residents of Ninth Street and Siebeck islands were evacuated, along with about 30 dogs, cats and other small pets.

Ten residents remained on the islands after saying they did not want to leave, said Belinda Van Nurden, the county’s disaster coordinator.

“Everyone’s been notified. Everyone’s been talked to face-to-face and asked, ‘Do you want to get off?”‘ Van Nurden said. “They can stay if they want.” Search and rescue teams were sent to the islands Friday morning to contact residents and help them prepare to evacuate, Sheriff Allan Lutes said.

Although the teams arrived by boat, the river currents were too dangerous to take residents off the same way and a state helicopter was flown in to ferry the residents, Lutes said.

The 180-foot-long Ninth Street bridge was closed Thursday afternoon after it began to sag into the river, which flows through Yellowstone National Park and across much of southern Montana on its way to the Missouri River.

Rising, fast-moving water has pounded the 44-year-old bridge for weeks, causing a concrete support beam to fail.

“The support keeps sinking deeper into the river,” Lutes said. “The engineers are pretty certain it’s going to go in. It’s just a matter of time.” Van Nurden said a separate beam had failed on the bridge 30 years ago, but was later repaired with a concrete reinforcement.

Several dozen island residents were able to cross the bridge before it was closed. Van Nurden said most evacuees were staying with friends and family, and one person had been put up in a motel by the Red Cross.

Authorities hoped to bring in a temporary military bridge to lay over the damaged span.

Van Nurden said the Montana Department of Transportation was gathering pieces for the temporary bridge from various cities including Billings, which is about 98 miles east of Livingston. She said the temporary structure could be in place by Sunday.

In the interim, Van Nurden said county authorities planned to stay in contact with the residents who stayed in their homes.