FERRYSBURG, Mich. — (Grand Haven Tribune) - A second engineering opinion has determined that Smith’s Bridge is safe for reopening to motor vehicle traffic.
Fleis & VandenBrink engineers said their recent tests concluded that the West Spring Lake Road bridge over Smith’s Bayou in Ferrysburg “can safely be reopened to traffic with the recommended load restriction.”
The recommended load restriction is 20 tons for a single-axle vehicle, 22 tons for a double-axle vehicle and 28 tons for a four-axle (truck pulling a trailer) vehicle.
An engineer will present the findings at the City Council meeting on Jan. 6, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Ferrysburg City Hall.
Members of the “Save Smith’s Bridge” group raised money to hire an engineering firm for a second opinion after the City Council voted in June to close the bridge due to deterioration.
City Manager Craig Bessinger said the decision to reopen the bridge or not will ultimately rest with the City Council.
“We just got the report today,” Bessinger said late Monday afternoon. “We already had the agenda for today (Monday night) done. Someone from Fleis & VandenBrink will come to the Jan. 6 meeting, make a presentation and answer questions from City Council members. We will take it to City Council and see what they want to do with it. It will be their decision.”
Fleis & VandenBrink’s testing indicates that the bridge’s concrete compressive strengths are adequate to support vehicle traffic and that there were “no significant areas of deterioration noted during visual inspection” after peeling back the asphalt and drilling test holes. The report also notes that “no delaminated or otherwise unsound areas of concrete were identified by the hammer sounding.”
Since June, the bridge has only been accessible to pedestrians and bicycles.
Bessinger said prior to the bridge being closed, load limits had been reduced to 20 tons after several years of noted structural deterioration. Should the City Council decide to reopen the bridge, “it could be posted at 20 tons for gross load,” the city manager said. “It’s an option for City Council to consider.”
The city has requested a $10 million grant from the state local bridge fund as well as a federal build grant. Total replacement cost of the bridge is estimated at $13 million.
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