Spokane County is planning nearly $26 million in projects to replace or rehabilitate eight bridges here over the next six years, though lagging availability of federal funding might delay some of those projects, says Neil Carroll, county bridge engineer.


In the biggest of the planned projects, the county expects to spend $15.5 million to replace what is known as the old I-90 bridge, which carries Appleway Road over the Spokane River just west of the Washington-Idaho border. The county expects to begin construction on the new bridge in 2010.


While money already is allocated for that project, largely from Federal Highway Administration funds administered by Washington states Bridge Replacement Advisory Committee, funds for the other seven planned bridge projects here still are unavailable, Carroll says. He says before this year the state advisory committee hadnt called for new project applications for three years, and the rising cost of construction has cut the number of projects the committee can help fund.


Its common for transportation projects to be included in the countys six-year plan before theyre funded fully. The county approved its most recent six-year plan last month.


Carroll says the 512-foot-long, 55-foot-wide old I-90 bridge, which was constructed in 1939, has reached the end of its useful life. It formerly carried heavy traffic when it was part of Interstate 90, and now has weight restrictions because some of the hinges that hold together its concrete beams are broken. The bridge carries between 5,000 and 6,000 vehicles a day, he says.


Appleway will be closed in that area while the four-lane bridge is torn down and replaced with a two-lane bridge in the same footprint, a process that Carroll says will take about 18 months to complete. The new, 45-foot-wide span will be constructed from prestressed concrete, and will include a 10-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian path on the east side of the bridge, separated from traffic by a concrete barrier.


The bridge also will be configured to allow for an underpass for the Centennial Trail, which currently has an at-grade crossing of Appleway Road, just south of the bridge, Carroll says. He says the county hopes to have the new bridge open to traffic in the winter of 2011.


The other bridges due for replacement in the six-year plan are: Chattaroy Road Bridge, over Dragoon Creek; Little Spokane Bridge 3602, near Wandermere Golf Course; a bridge on Idaho Road that crosses Rock Creek southeast of Spokane; Bruce Road Bridge, over Peone Creek near Mount Spokane Park Drive; and Colbert Road Bridge 3703, which also crosses the Little Spokane. Additionally, the county hopes to rehabilitate the Rutter Parkway Bridge, which crosses the Little Spokane near the Painted Rocks; and the Elder Road Bridge, which carries traffic over Union Pacific railroad tracks south of Spokane.


On the Chattaroy Road Bridge project, the county expects to spend about $1.8 million to replace the aging span, which Carroll says has a broken abutment. The county has done some temporary strengthening of the span, and has restricted traffic on the 35-foot-long bridge to one lane, but hopes to replace it with an 80-foot long prestressed concrete bridge, Carroll says.


Because of the condition of the Little Spokane Bridge 3602, which carries Little Spokane Drive over the river at the bottom of Mill Road hill at Dartford Drive near U.S. 395, weight restrictions have been posted for traffic on the span, and it has been damaged by scouring by the river, but wasnt eligible for reconstruction funding this year, Carroll says. The county hopes to replace the 90-foot-long, 28-foot-wide bridge with a 45-foot-wide bridge of similar length at an expected cost of about $2.2 million. The new bridge would include a 10-foot-wide, separated bicycle and pedestrian path, and the project could lead to reconstruction of the intersection of Mill Road and Dartford Drive, just south of the bridge. The transportation plan calls for the bridge project to take place in 2012.


Colbert Road Bridge 3703, which crosses the Little Spokane River just east of Little Spokane Drive was built like the Little Spokane Bridge, and has similar problems Carroll says. The county hopes to replace it with a concrete bridge that also would have a 10-foot-wide separated path, at an expected cost of about $2.1 million. Construction is scheduled tentatively for 2014, Carroll says.


On Bruce Road, the county hopes to replace a heavily traveled, deteriorating concrete bridge that crosses Peone Creek, also called Deadman Creek. That project is expected to cost about $1.7 million, and construction is scheduled tentatively for 2013, Carroll says.


On Idaho Road, the 26-foot-wide, 40-foot-long wooden bridge that spans Rock Creek at the Washington-Idaho state line is slated to be replaced with a 30-foot-wide, 80-foot-long concrete bridge at a cost of about $1.7 million.


Carroll says replacing old timber bridges with longer concrete spans improves water flow in a creek or river, saves money, and reduces environmental impacts by avoiding having to work in the water during construction. Construction is scheduled tentatively for 2013, Carroll says.


The county has applied for money for a $330,000 project to strengthen the Elder Road Bridge southeast of Spokane between state Route 27 and the state line, and hopes to replace the decking and reinforce pilings later on the Rutter Parkway Bridge across the Little Spokane River north of Spokane at an estimated cost of about $545,000, Carroll says.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at jeanneg@spokanejournal.com.