Whitmore Ravine Bridge Repair & Trail Closure
–Repairs to start Monday, August 22nd, 2016-
(Great Falls, MT) – Montana State Parks (stateparks.mt.gov) announced today that the Whitmore Ravine Bridge at Giant Springs State Park will be closed for repairs beginning Monday, August 22nd, 2016. This closure will also affect all single track/dirt trails leading down to Whitmore Ravine and east of the Ravine.
The Whitmore Ravine Bridge is in need of major repairs and MT State Parks has received a Missouri-Madison River Fund Grant to fund the project. Repairs will start on Monday, August 22nd, 2016 and last for approximately 45 days. The bridge and corridor is anticipated to be reopened by September 30th, 2016.
The temporary bridge was donated to Montana State Parks about a year ago from Sletten Construction. The structure has been in place for almost ten years and is in need of repair and re-stabilization. The project includes welding of additional cross structures under the bridge, replacing the planks, adding footers, and stabilizing the banks with riprap. The contractor working on the project is Bonser Construction.
All dirt trails leading from the Lewis & Clark Overlook will be closed during construction; this also includes the 67th Street Gate Trailhead, which will be used for construction traffic entering and exiting the work site. While the bridge is under repair, there will be no access across Whitmore Ravine resulting in closure of all trails east the ravine.
The North Shore Trails starting at Rainbow Trailhead heading east to Morony Dam will be open for use, and there are approximately 15 miles of trails between the two trailheads. All trails are single track dirt trails and range from easy to difficult depending on the section. Parking is available at the Rainbow, Ryan and Morony trailheads. All of the trailheads have maps and vault toilets.
Montana State Parks apologizes for any inconvenience and asks the public to please respect the closure and stay clear of Whitmore Ravine until the work is completed. Lewis & Clark Overlook will be open during construction and the paved trails heading east and west from the overlook will remain open.
For more information about the project or closure area, call Jason Pignanelli at (406) 727-1212.
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