The state of Alaska has a bridge to give away.

In a public notice last week, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said it is willing to give away seven spans of the Gerstle River Bridge near Delta Junction, built in World War II for the Alaska Highway.

Interested parties have until March 6 to contact the department, which is planning a new bridge over the river. The existing bridge will be removed by 2031.

“We are offering seven spans of the existing bridge to any state, local or private group that wants to relocate and preserve it,” said Angelica Stabs, a spokesperson for the department. “You know, it is a historic bridge. It was built in 1944, and so it’s just a way of preserving the history the best that we can.”

The Gerstle River Bridge — officially known as the Black Veterans Memorial Bridge — is one of many that were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to connect Alaska with the Lower 48 via an overland route during World War II.

Several Black construction regiments, poorly equipped and ill-trained, were assigned to build the Alaska Highway during World War II and persevered despite terrible conditions, completing a rough route in 1942 that was upgraded throughout the war and afterward.

The Gerstle River Bridge is one of four steel-truss bridges constructed along the highway.

In 1993, the bridge was named in honor of the Black regiments, and the Alaska Legislature later voted to declare Oct. 25 as “African American Soldiers’ Contribution to Building the Alaska Highway Day.”

Representative Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen, represents the area around the bridge in the Alaska House of Representatives. She said she’s glad to see an opportunity to reuse it rather than have it scrapped.

While giving away a bridge might seem unusual, it’s not unprecedented in Alaska. In the 1950s, when the Chena River bridge in downtown Fairbanks was replaced, its predecessor — constructed in 1917 — was floated down the river and all the way to western Alaska, near Nome.

That bridge, now called the Kuzitrin Bridge, still stands on the road between Nome and Serpentine Hot Springs.

The giveaway for the Gerstle River Bridge comes with some conditions, Stabs said.

“The seven trusses that we’re releasing, they are to be used for the public in some way, so someone can’t buy it and put it in their backyard and use it privately,” Stabs said. “It’s going to be open. It has to be open to the public, and whoever takes on that bridge is going to be responsible for the maintenance and safety.”

The reused bridge also won’t be suitable for car traffic, and anyone who takes it will have to be responsible for carrying it away, though it is possible that some federal grants will be available for the recycling process.

The new bridge and the current one are used by Manh Choh mine ore trucks, which carry material to Fairbanks for processing.

Stabs said the new Gerstle River Bridge is being designed to accommodate heavier and taller loads and will have a design life of 75 years, which should allow it to stand into the 2100s before needing replacement.