::: COMMUNITY NEWS

Hoisted from the river bank by a crane, the 200-foot stretch of bridge was turned into position.

Center span of community bridge is put in place

Published Friday, November 17, 2006

Under overcast skies, a small crowd gathered on the banks of the Cosumnes River Thursday morning to witness local history as the 200-foot middle span of the pedestrian bridge was set atop towering concrete piers on either side of the river.

"Did you think this day would ever come?" asked former RMA General Manager Greg Vorster rhetorically as he watched the crane lift the huge wood structure from the south bank.

Vorster and former RMA President Mike Schieberl developed the plan for the bridge with resident Randy Jenco, president of Viking Construction, the bridge builder, and presented it to the county four years ago. With the county's support, the RMA was able to secure developer funding for the $1.75 million cost.

The Community Services District took on the role of lead agency for the environmental review of the project.

Considering the financing and permitting hurdles the project had already cleared, no one expected it to be waylaid by easements and indemnity issues. But that's what happened in 2005, when the RMA and the Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers failed to resolve liability issues.

The CSD then stepped in to acquire the land for the bridge from the PTF to address the liability concerns. A marathon legal effort on the part of the CSD, RMA, Country Club and the PTF resolved the easements and allowed the project to go forward six months ago.

Vorster was project manager for the bridge until he left the RMA in March 2005, when Assistant General Manager Danise Hetland took over as project manager.

On Thursday, Hetland wore a pink hard hat and striped boots as she waded through the muddy construction site. Once the bridge section was in place, she joined Vorster for a few minutes of conversation as they looked at the span.

The bridge sits high above the river to accommodate flood flows. The structure was fabricated by Western Wood Structures of Oregon whose workers assembled it on-site from precut pieces of glulam, engineered wood that's expected to last 50 years or more without requiring maintenance.

The last two sections of the bridge will be installed after Thanksgiving.

The bridge is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year, Hetland said. It's expected to open early next year after post and cable fencing is installed along the trails and security cameras and other measures are in place.

The span needed to be placed atop supporting piers.

The span sits high above the Cosumnes to address the river's flood flows.

RMA official Danise Hetland, the bridge project manager, and Greg Vorster, the former RMA general manager and previous project manager, watched the project unfold.

The plan for the bridge was presented to the county four years ago.