by WILL MOSS
Against the steady hum of morning traffic, a lone bagpipe sounded the solemn notes of “Amazing Grace” Tuesday to open the dedication ceremony of Hamilton’s new Veteran’s Bridge.
“It’s a great day,” said Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch to a crowd of veterans, American Legion members and others gathered at the fishing access just south of the bridge.
Alex Ivanoff, Commander of Corvallis American Legion Post 91, couldn’t have agreed more.
“There’s a lot of veterans in this valley and a lot of veterans in Montana,” he said. “So, it’s a big honor for the veterans to have this happen, because they should be recognized.”
Ivanoff, a Naval veteran of the Vietnam War, began the push to honor his fellow servicemen and women with the bridge about three years ago.
“I saw a bridge named after veterans on [Interstate] 90 going through Idaho,” he said, “so I thought that seemed like an appropriate name for this new bridge.”
And on Tuesday, Ivanoff got to watch as elected county and state officials, including Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, lined up to show their respect to the state’s veterans.
“Today we are remembering all that have served, including those that didn’t come back. So, this is a great day,” said Schweitzer, echoing Lynch’s opening remarks. “There’s some people, I’m one of them, who are critical of government spending. You’re wondering if your tax dollars are doing the right thing. But I can assure you, today, that this is the right investment for the right reasons and it’s great to be here to dedicate it.”
Schweitzer, who it appeared, had done his homework on Hamilton’s northern entrance, invoked the memory of the old Silver Bridge, noting that it had served the community for 69 years.
“Will you guarantee that this one will last 69 years?” he asked Lynch, putting him on the spot with a smile.
“And then some more,” Lynch responded. “I guarantee it.”
State Representative Gary MacLaren explained to the crowd the nuance of the new bridge’s name.
“There was quite a bit of discussion over what we should name it,” he said. “Should it be the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge or just the Veteran’s Bridge? And it was finally decided that the memorial bridge kind of implied that it was only for veterans past and we wanted to dedicate it to all veterans, living and past, so we decided that it would be the Veteran’s Bridge.”
After comments from the officials, a 21-gun salute was fired by the Honor Guard and the procession made its way to the bridge’s surface to place a ceremonial wreath on the bridge’s northbound sign.
Al Fox of Hamilton, a Naval veteran of the Vietnam War who is now a member of the Stevensville American Legion, was pleased with the ceremony.
“I think it was very fine,” he said. “It was good of the governor to come down and dedicate the bridge. It was very fitting.”
Fox said that it made him proud to see veterans honored in that way.
“The veterans deserve monuments and structures named after them. Whenever there’s a veteran’s highway or a veteran’s bridge, it makes me very proud.”
Ravalli County Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll still has fond memories of the old Silver Bridge, but appreciates the safety and unobtrusive design of the new one.
“When I was a military wife, for 20 years I came home and it was always the sound of the bridge that made you know you were home,” she said. “This is a different bridge, but the view and the way you can see the valley, it’s a really nice feeling.”
Driscoll noted the importance of honoring veterans in a county with such high numbers of servicemen and women.
“It’s a pretty important thing to have in place,” she said.
Director Lynch, who also comes from a military family, saw the dedication of the structure as a proper tribute.
“The dedication is more than fitting,” he said. “I have two sons who served in Iraq and I have one son who’s back in Afghanistan right now. So, I think it’s a tremendous tribute. What better structure to honor our servicemen than a bridge.”
The Veteran’s Bridge is 551 feet and 10 inches in length and consists of four 138-foot spans.
It’s 82 feet and seven inches wide with four 12-foot wide lanes, a six-foot wide median, eight-foot wide shoulders and a 10-foot wide sidewalk and bicycle path on one side.
The deck contains almost 1,500 cubic yards of concrete and 118 tons of reinforcing steel. The bridge’s substructure contains over 2,900 cubic yards of concrete and 240 tons of reinforcing steel.
The bridge’s deck is supported by 44 prestressed beams, each one about 137 feet long, six feet tall and weighing over 56 tons. The beams were manufactured in Billings.
The bridge contractor was Frontier West out of Missoula.
