“It’s Been a Long Time Coming”

 Bridge Named in Memory of the Late Ann Schmitz 

By Echo Menges 

Scotland County, Mo. – A small group of family, friends, and neighbors gathered on the newly built railroad crossing bridge on County Road 113 in rural Scotland County to honor the memory of the late Ann (Forrester) Schmitz Wednesday morning, Sept. 11, 2024. Schmitz was a native of Knox County. 

The occasion was bittersweet for the family and loved ones of Schmitz, who died as a result of injuries she sustained in a tractor rollover on the bridge 43 years ago. The accident left a lasting impression on her family, neighbors, and friends, who remember the difficult loss well and attribute the accident to the dangerous old bridge. 

The old bridge was notorious for its steep, crooked approach, with only enough room for one vehicle at a time. 

“If you met someone on the bridge, one of you had to back down,” commented a neighbor. “Sometimes, it just depended on who was better at backing up.” 

Schmitz met a vehicle on the bridge just before the accident on Aug. 17, 1981. While backing her tractor down the approach to allow the vehicle to pass, the tractor went off the side of the steep hill and ended up on top of her. Concerned neighbors worked tirelessly to remove the tractor and free Schmitz, who suffered life-threatening injuries. 

She lingered for two weeks before passing away on Aug. 31, 1981. Schmitz was only 41 years old when she died. 

“I remember it,” said Scotland County Commissioner Brent Rockhold. “One of her sons was the same age as me. He was one of my best friends. I was 20 at the time.” 

Schmitz is remembered as a proud farm wife, farmer, and mother of six. 

Now, more than four decades after her passing, the newly built railroad crossing bridge has been named in her memory. 

A small dedication and bridge opening ceremony was held ahead of the bridge opening to the public. The group of Schmitz’s family, friends, and neighbors was joined by officials from the Missouri Department of Transportation, the Scotland County Commission, the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, contractors from LG Barcus and Sons of Kansas City, Kansas, and project engineers from Howe Company, LLC of Macon, Missouri. 

“We can’t do a project like this without the support of local landowners,” said Shannon Howe, Howe Company project engineer who helped oversee the bridge replacement project. “Your County Commission has been very involved in this, very proactive in trying to create a safer crossing for your community, and I applaud them for sticking with it.” 

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Scotland County Commissioner David Wiggins. “The railroad closed this bridge on July 14, 2022.” 

“It was a crooked and very narrow bridge, besides being steep,” said Rockhold. 

“It had a wood floor. It was a timber bridge,” added Wiggins. 

“The Scotland County Commission started the process of replacing this bridge in 2017 by discussing the possible replacement with MoDOT and BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) as part of a plan to improve safety at railroad crossings. The project is funded by a cost-share agreement, with MoDOT paying part of the project and BNSF paying another part. Scotland County is now the owner of the bridge and assumes maintenance responsibilities. The bridge does not require load posting,” said Howe. “The original bid for construction was $3,070,440.” 

“We expect a little bit from the county, but very little of county funds were used to finance this bridge,” added Wiggins. 

According to Howe, the new bridge is 208 feet long by 24 feet wide. It has a concrete deck and concrete barriers on each side. Over 24,000 cubic yards of fill were used for the approach roadways. More than 4,300 square yards of road rock, over 161 cubic yards of concrete supplied by M&O Ready-Mix, 12 prestressed concrete bridge girders, more than 70,000 pounds of reinforcing steel, and over 2,000 linear feet of 14-inch pipe piling were used in the construction of the new bridge.