Anchorage officials say a Westchester Lagoon footbridge that collapsed last year is on track to be repaired by the end of this summer.
The city recently picked a contractor to build a steel prefabricated footbridge with a paved deck to reconnect the lagoon and greenbelt to downtown Anchorage. The winning low-bid construction cost was $186,550, less than two-thirds what city engineers had estimated, according to bid documents.
After the cost of engineering and project management are factored in, the price tag will come in below $500,000, said Josh Durand, parks superintendent. City engineers previously said the project could cost $1 million or more.
Contracts are still being signed, but construction is expected to start later in the summer, wrapping up by September or October, Durand said. The steel bridge will replace the decaying wooden footbridge on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that collapsed last June under the weight of a truck pulling a wood chipper.
Durand said the new bridge will resemble some on the city's Campbell Creek Trail, with pre-rusted steel railings lining the paved deck.
The collapse of the bridge severed a key artery between downtown Anchorage and the rest of the Coastal Trail and has prompted route changes for popular organized running events, including the Twilight 12K race and the Mayor's Marathon. But Durand said the biggest impact seems to have been on surrounding neighborhoods and on the daily lives of those who use the Coastal Trail.
"Using the Coastal Trail is a very aesthetic, calming experience, and this is just a little burden in that," Durand said. "All of a sudden you have to pay attention to detour signs, you have to get on a road."
The bridge's failure also prompted a wide-ranging analysis of the condition of other footbridges on Anchorage's greenbelt system. A report released in December found that four other bridges on the Coastal Trail showed similar signs of decay, arising from an engineering flaw. In the report, engineers recommended that the city next seek to replace a wooden bridge at the north end of the Coastal Trail near Second Avenue.
In April, voters approved $1.5 million in bonds to repair and replace bridges on the greenbelt. Durand said the parks department will be using remaining funds from the Westchester Lagoon bridge replacement to start tackling the replacement of other Coastal Trail bridges.
"Whatever we think we can afford," Durand said.