Fire engines dispatched to an accident on Auburn Road Wednesday were turned back because they couldn't cross an old one-lane, wood-deck bridge over Wolf Creek.

Only a day earlier, Nevada County supervisors had debated design options for replacement of the structure built in 1897.

The issue was whether the bridge should be replaced with a $290,000 concrete-slab structure or a more historic steel-truss design, which would cost twice as much and delay completion of the project for a year. The concrete-slab design was eventually approved Tuesday.

The aging bridge was deemed "functionally obsolete and structurally deficient" by the county Department of Transportation and Sanitation in 1998 due to its deteriorating condition and limited weight load, which prohibit large emergency vehicles from crossing.

"We haven't been able to get across that bridge for years," said Tim Fike, Nevada County Consolidated Fire District Chief.

Fike said Wednesday's accident occurred on Auburn Road less than a quarter mile north of the bridge.

When the call came in, Fike said, it was unclear on which side of the bridge the accident had occurred.

Two fire engines - one from Station 88 on Highway 49 and one from Station 89 at Alta Sierra - were dispatched and approached the accident scene from the south on Auburn Road.

Fike said a smaller fire truck was able to cross the bridge from the south, but the fire engines couldn't get to the scene less than a quarter mile away.

A fire engine had to be called in from the Brighton Street Station in Grass Valley to get to the accident, causing a 10-minute delay, Fike said. No one was injured in the accident.

"When we were asked to comment on the bridge replacement, we voiced our concerns and outlined the scenario that happened yesterday, and said the bridge should be replaced as soon as possible," Fike said. "We've been suggesting that needs to happen for years."

Fike said he was concerned the county considered the historic design, which would have delayed the bridge project a year.

"I'm a proponent of preserving our history, but when it comes to getting fire trucks across that bridge, I'm not so enthusiastic," he said.

The county's transportation department recognized the need to replace the bridge in 1998, said director Michael Hill-Weld. But survey and design work and the wait for Caltrans funding approval take time, he said.

Hill-Weld said he shared Fike's concerns.

"It's symptomatic of the problem we're trying to solve in making the bridge safe and enabling emergency equipment to access the area," Hill-Weld said.

Supervisor Sue Horne agreed with the staff's recommendation to go with the two-lane concrete slab design.

"Delaying the project a year is not the responsible choice," she said. "What happened (Wednesday) shows that it's imperative we get the bridge replaced as soon as possible for safety reasons."

Hill-Weld said the bridge replacement project will be completed next summer.

Concerned about losing the county's historic structures, Supervisors Peter Van Zant and Bruce Conklin on Tuesday voted to replace the bridge with a steel-truss design.

"The historic proposal I and Supervisor Conklin were promoting called for building bridges that support the weight of fire trucks," Van Zant said Thursday. "We want bridges to have safety features along with historic features."

Hill-Weld said the old bridge will be dismantled, stored and put back together in the future, and used on a pedestrian/bike path somewhere in the county.

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