LOWVILLE — For sale: used bridges. Buyer must remove.

If you are in the market for a unique item to add to your backyard, Lewis County has a couple of deals for you. It seeks buyers for bridges on Marshey Road over the west branch of the Oswegatchie River in the town of Diana and the Wood Battle Road bridge in the town of Harrisburg that crosses Cobb Creek.

Both bridges are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Because of that, any transfer deed will include a preservation covenant that requires the new owner to maintain the bridge in accordance with the “Secretary of the Interior’s standards for rehabilitation Guidelines for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings.”

It will also be a costly transaction. The county estimates the cost to remove the Wood Battle Road bridge at $200,000.

Don’t get cross, but the two bridge offers found in legal ads posted by Lewis County reflect a gap in reality. The advertisements are part of the process of replacing them.

“It’s actually pretty routine,” Timothy Hunt, Lewis County Highway Superintendent said. “I have the two of them advertised right now that are for sale.”

Both bridges are structurally deficient.

“They are on the state historic inventory and before you can declare the bridge surplus, you have to give somebody the opportunity to protect it,” Hunt said. “It’s very rare that somebody would want it because the cost of relocating it would be enormous and the bridges need to be replaced.”

Hunt made his comments by returning a phone call and leaving a message. Follow-up phone calls and emails to him and Lewis County manager Ryan Piche seeking information on the timelines for the bridge replacements, costs and possible traffic detours were not returned.

The county advertisements note that if anyone is interested in the bridges, they should contact Hunt at 315-378-5350 or at timhunt@lewiscounty.ny.gov.