Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 401_RS 492
Montana. Department of
Transportation.
Montana Department of Transportation, Bridge Bureau
records
1919-2003
6 linear feet
This collection is a sub-subgroup
(Bureau) of the Montana Department of Transportation records, RS 492. The Bridge
Bureau currently (as of 2024) operates under the Engineering Division. Please see the primary finding aid
for more Montana
Department of Transportation records. Records of the Montana Department of
Transportation, Bridge Bureau document the construction, repair, and inspection of bridges
and associated structures (abutments, etc.) around Montana from the late 1910s to the 2000s,
and are comprised of correspondence, diaries, minutes, and subject files.
36:8-1
English
The Montana State Highway Commission was created in 1913 by the state Legislative Assembly.
The original Commission was composed of three members. In 1917 new legislation altered the
organization of the Commission by authorizing the appointment of twelve members according to
geographic highway districts. Membership was changed again in 1921 to three members
appointed by the Governor and in 1941 to five members, also appointed by the Governor. In
1971 the Commission was renamed the Montana Department of Highways, created by Chapter 7 of
the Executive Reorganization Act of 1971 and implemented by executive order of the Governor
on December 16, 1971. The Department of Highways took over all but the advisory functions of
the State Highway Commission.
By 1972, the Department consisted of seven divisions: the Legal Division, Personnel
Division, Centralized Services Division, Engineering Division, Motor Pool Division, Gross
Vehicle Weight Division, and the Maintenance Division. Each division is headed by an
administrator. The Centralized Services Division, Engineering Division, Motor Pool Division,
Gross Vehicle Weight Division, and the Maintenance Division are furthered sub-divided into
bureaus, headed by Chiefs. In 1991, the Department of Highways became the Department of
Transportation.
In 1996, the Bridge Bureau was a direct subdivision of the Highways and Engineering
Division. At present, it is a bureau of the Preconstruction Program, which is under the
umbrella of the Highways and Engineering Division. Currently, the Bridge Bureau designs all
major bridges for highways controlled by the department, and approves bridge design
performed by consultants. Historically, the Bridge Bureau was also responsible for the
construction, repair, and inspection/assessment of bridges and associated structures
(abutments, etc.) around Montana.
This collection consists primarily of subject files detailing the assessments and
construction of, and repairs to, bridges around Montana. It also contains one folder of
meeting minutes of the Bureau, two diaries kept by J.J. Anderson of work done on the
Poplar-Flaxville project in Roosevelt County, and ten folders of correspondence from Bridge
Bureau satellite offices.
This collection is arranged by series.
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and
makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission
must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not
necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases,
permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Transportation were
integrated under one collection identifier, RS 492, in order to help facilitate access,
reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Transportation's various Divisions and Bureaus that
were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 492. Rather than reprocessing over 280 linear feet of
Transportation materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those
collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding
aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over
the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding
aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if
this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Bridges--Montana--Design and
Construction--History--20th century
Bridge construction--United States
Depressions--1929--Montana
Bridges--United States---Montana
Montana
Transportation
Detailed Description of the Collection
Correspondence
1/1
Bridge Correspondence: Billings
1966-1971
1/2
Bridge Correspondence: Bozeman
1970
1/3
Bridge Correspondence: Butte
1970
1/4
Bridge Correspondence: Glendive
1969-1971
1/5
Bridge Correspondence: Great Falls
1952-1971
1/6
Bridge Correspondence: Havre
1968-1971
1/7
Bridge Correspondence: Kalispell
1970-1971
1/8
Bridge Correspondence: Lewistown
1970
1/9
Bridge Correspondence: Miles City
1966-1970
1/10
Bridge Correspondence: Missoula
1969-1970
Diaries
1/11
2 journals kept by J.J. Anderson dealing with Project
S-15 (Poplar-Flaxville) in Roosevelt County
1953-1954
Minutes
1/12
Meeting Minutes
1994-1999
Subject Files
1/13
Carter Bridge
1919-1921
1/14
(Off system) Missouri River
1919-1920
1/15
Bonner Bridge
1920-1921
1/16
Missouri River Bridge (C2)
1921-1957
1/17
Armells Creek
1931-1932
1/18
F.A.P. 175 (Fred Burr Creek Bridge)
1931
1/19
Missouri River Bridge (D2)
1931-1944
1/20
Powder River Bridge
1933-1934
1/21
Tongue River
1933-1934
1/22
Floweree Canal
1934-1936
1/23
Mossmain O’head
1934-1968
1/24
Lyndale O’head, Helena
1935-1936
1/25
Missoula River Bridge (Orange St.)
1936-1955
1/26
Clark’s Fork Yellowstone River
1939-1940
1/27
Missouri River Bridge at Malta-Lewiston
1946-1962
1/28
Bridge – N.P. Ry. 1130-02-32
1948-1949
1/29
Missouri River Bridge at Cascade
1949-1953
1/30
Bridge No. 7-2120-5.8
1951
1/31
Bridge – 0730-02
1952
1/32
Bridge – Wibaux
1952
1/33
Bridge – 0510
1952-1953
1/34
Bridge Repair (by area)
1954-1971
2/1
Lyndale Avenue overpass
1956-1966
2/2
Various Bridges #1
1956-1968
2/3
Clark Fork River “Band Man flats”
1965-1973
2/4
Billings Division
1968
2/5
Bozeman Division
1968
2/6
Butte Division
1968
2/7
Glendive Division
1968
2/8
Great Falls Division
1968
2/9
Harve Division
1968
2/10
Kalispell Division
1968
2/11
Lewistown Division
1968
2/12
Miles City Division
1968
2/13
Missoula Division
1968
2/14
Prairie Elk Creek
1968
2/15
Wolf Point Division
1968
2/16
Powder River, near Terry
1970
2/17
Lyndale Avenue Bridge
1970
2/18
Boulder River
1972-1974
2/19
Jefferson River
1973
2/20
West Boulder River
1973-1974
2/21
Historic Bridge Inventory – Part I and II
1980
2/22
Historic Bridge Inventory – Part III
1980
2/23
Pedestrian Bridge (I-15, Helena)
1982
2/24
Haddow Creek
1988-1996
2/25
Brown Creek
1987-1996
2/26
Jack Creek
1987-1996
2/27
Big Ditch
1983-2000
2/28
Red Rock River
1985-1994
2/29
Sullivan Creek
1987-1996
2/30
Pishkun Canal
1979-2001
2/31
No name bridge (12 miles SE Zurich)
1979-2003
2/32
Jensen Coulee
1979-2001
2/33
Spokane Creek
1980-1997
2/34
S. Fork, Smith River
1979-1996
2/35
Catlin Spring Creek
1986-1997
2/36
Number Five Coulee
1983-1997
2/37
Cottonwood Creek
1985-1997
2/38
Con’s Coulee
1980-1998
2/39
Middle Charlie Creek
1979-1996
2/40
Irrigation Canal (1 mile North of 3 Forks)
1979-1997
3/1
No Name (4 miles NW Coran)
1979-1995
3/2
Thirteen Mile Creek
1979-1998
3/3
Stockpass (5 miles NW Norris)
1988-1996
3/4
Stockpass (4 miles NW Norris)
1988-1996
3/5
Stockpass (4 miles SE Harrison)
1988-1996
3/6
Stockpass (1 mile NW Norris)
1983-1996
3/7
Drainage (2 miles NW Norris)
1988-1996
3/8
Stockpass (3 miles NW Norris)
1983-1996
3/9
Drainage (5 miles S. Bynum)
1987-1996
3/10
East Fork Battle Creek
1988-1996
3/11
Kleinschmidt Canal
1980-1997
3/12
E. Fork Pipe Creek
1988-1993
3/13
Drainage (21 miles S. Klein)
1983-1997
3/14
Sears Creek
1983-1996
3/15
Stockpass (7 miles E. Pipeston)
1986-1995
3/16
Drainage (7 miles E. Hinsdale)
1987-1995
3/17
Canal (2 miles E. Hinsdale)
1987-1995
3/18
Milk River Overflow (2 miles E. Hinsdale)
1987-1995
3/19
No Name Ditch (4 miles NE Fairfield)
1980-1997
3/20
No Name Canal (10 miles SE Winnett)
1981-1996
3/ 21
Slaughter House Creek
1989-1997
3/22
Lang Creek
1989-1995
3/23
Muskrat Creek
1983-1998
3/24
Crackerbox Creek
1980-1993
3/25
Little Bighorn
1978-1995
3/26
Warm Springs Creek
1981-1996
3/27
Whitefish River
1980-1994
3/28
Lynch Creek
1973-1996
3/29
Miscellaneous Structures
1985-1997
3/30
Clark Fork (3 m. S. of Laurel) – File 1
1994-1996
3/31
Clark Fork (3 m. S. of Laurel) – File 2
1996
3/32
East Bridge – Billings – Part I
1977-1993
3/33
East Bridge – Billings – Part I
1988-1996
3/34
Musselshell River (1 m. S.E. of Melstone)
1988-1992
3/35
Milk R. – Wagner
1995-2003
3/36
Selway Bridge North of Dillon
1995-2003
3/37
Como Bridge
1996-2003
4/1
Upper Nine Mile Road
1953-1962
4/2
Reserve Street Missoula – Part I (maps)
1966-1975
4/3
Reserve Street Missoula – Part II
1956-1971
4/4
Reserve Street Missoula – Part II
1972-1976
4/5
Reserve Street Missoula – Part III
1975-1978
4/6
Warden Bridge – Part I
1979
4/7
Warden Bridge – Part I (maps)
1979
4/8
Warden Bridge – Part II
1979
4/9
Warden Bridge – Part II
1980-1983
4/10
Warden Bridge – Part III
1983-1984
4/11
Varney – East
1985-1995
4/12
Missouri River Bridge S. of W. Point
1992-1996
4/13
Missouri River Bridge S. of W. Point – File
2
1996-1997
4/14
Missouri River Bridge S. of W. Point – File
3
1996-1999
5/1
Old Missouri River Bridge
1985-1987
5/2
Ulm Bridge
1981-1984
5/3
Sun River Bridge
1990-1997
5/4
Swan R. – West of Ferndale
1997-1998
5/5
Helena – York Bridge
1979
5/6
Helena – York Bridge
1978-1983
5/7
Helena – York Bridge – Part II
1980
5/8
Helena – York Bridge – Part II
1980-1981
5/9
Flathead River Bridge
1992-1993
5/10
Flathead River Bridge
1993-1997
6/1
Flathead River NE of Kalispell
1978-1994
6/2
Yellowstone R. – 3 m. NW Pompey’s Pillar
(1)
1993-1998
6/3
Yellowstone R. – 3 m. NW Pompey’s Pillar
(2)
1998-2001
6/4
Yellowstone R. – 3 m. NW Pompey’s Pillar
(3)
1999-2002
6/5
W. Billings Int – Abutment walls
1995-1998
6/6
W. Billings interchange – complete – File
1
1986-1994
6/7
W. Billings interchange – complete – File
2
1992-1998
6/8
East Helena – East and West – Part I
1973-1977
6/9
East Helena – East and West – Part II
1967-1977
6/10
East Helena – East and West – Part III
1977-1978