The Pulaski County Daily and Waynesville Daily Guide published stories within days of each other about Pulaski County’s ongoing efforts to repair the decaying Devil’s Elbow Bridge in the Route 66 hamlet of Devil’s Elbow, Mo.
The gist of it is:
- Jerry Plunkett, a local military contractor, is looking for a variety of ways to rehabilitate the 1923 bridge, which can no longer support the weight of tour buses traveling the Mother Road.
- Rehabbing the bridge may cost up to $3 million — considerably more than the county originally estimated.
- But Plunkett said he’s talked to television producers, including the Discovery Channel, in an effort to produce a program drum up interest in the historic Route 66 bridge …
- … which would lead to a greater possibility of getting the federal grants needed to fully repair the bridge.
One of those grants, Plunkett said, can come through the Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment program, via the U.S. Department of Transportation. He said he’s built five bridges through the program.
The grants also could possibly include “green” technology to heat the bridge’s deck to prevent icing during the winter. (That grant, however, which sounds far-fetched.)