VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Barnes County Historical Society Lecture Series Season 22 Presents: Bennett R. Kubischta “The Lost Bridge” 7PM Thursday, April 20th at the Barnes County Museum.

Rivers have always been a barrier to land travel. The Little Missouri River and its canyon provided a unique barrier to early 20th Century travelers in North Dakota. One of the bridges across that river was the ND Highway 22 Lost Bridge north of Killdeer which was built during the winter of 1930 and 1931. You will learn about how it was funded, the survey, the building of the bridge, a fight between towns, rattlesnakes, cattle, cowboys and cowgirls.

Bennett Kubischta, a 1970 graduate of the North Dakota State College of Science, worked for the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) for 44 years until his retirement in 2014. From 1970 to 1976 he was involved in plan preparation of rural and urban roadways. He spent his first three summers with the Department on construction surveying. From 1976 to the mid 1990s Ben authored environmental documents. These ranged from box culvert replacements along rural highways to urban projects such as Bismarck’s Century Avenue from Sate Street to Washington Street and Environmental Impact Statements for projects such as the four-laning of US Highway 83 north and south of Max and the six-laning of I-94 in Fargo.

Ben coordinated the Transportation Enhancement (TE) Program from its beginning in the mid 1990s until his retirement in 2014. During his time with the TE program he coordinated bicycle/pedestrian projects, landscaping projects, NDDOT’s rest area reconstruction program, and the State Scenic Byway program. Ben also managed TE Tourism related projects such as the Pembina State Museum, the Missouri Yellowstone Confluence Center, the Midland Continental Railroad/Peggy Lee Museum, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, and the Sitting Bull Visitor Center. He was also involved with Prairie Public Broadcasting’s Rivers, Roads, Rails, and Air and the Old Red Trail projects, and an educational project, Scattered Village, for elementary and middle school students. Ben’s career culminated with the publication of North Dakota Department of Transportation – Roads of Progress which was an update of the history of the NDDOT.

All Lectures are at the Barnes County Historical Society Museum and held in conjunction with Valley City State University. They are free and open to the public. For more information contact Wes Anderson at 701-845-0966.