Brown County is unloading an old junker of a bridge, and saving taxpayers thousands of dollars in demolition costs.

On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners agreed to sell bridge 2110, which spans the Minnesota River west of Fort Ridgely, to Washington County for $1. It is a sterling example of one person’s junk being another person’s treasure.

Washington County plans to relocate the bridge, which is no longer safe for the vehicle traffic it has been carrying, and use it as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge in the Lake Elmo park preserve. It would serve that purpose very well, and its old, historic look will add some charm to the park.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has a Cultural Resources Unit that wants to preserve some of the old, historic bridges by requiring the counties or cities that own them to advertise them to see if anyone out there would want it. Sometimes it may seem an unnecessary expenditure of time and resources, but in this case it serves two purposes. Brown County doesn’t have to pay to scrap the bridge and Washington County is getting a used bridge for less than a new one would cost.

You can’t beat that.