Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder on a $1.4 million Spokane County project to replace Bruce Road Bridge, southeast of Mount Spokane High School, says Bob Brueggeman, senior engineer for the county.

Bridge work is tentatively scheduled to begin this month and to be completed by Thanksgiving, Brueggeman says, adding that the construction timeline might change once the project is awarded.

The bridge is located about a quarter-mile south of a roundabout where Bruce Road and Mount Spokane Park Drive intersect, he says.

Work will include replacing the existing bridge, which crosses over Peone Creek, with a new bridge roughly 100 feet long and 40 feet wide, slightly wider than the current structure. Brueggeman says the new bridge, which will maintain the same roadway alignment, will be about 10 feet higher than the current overpass, providing more clearance between the bottom of the bridge and the creek.

"It won't be quite as much of a dip going through the ravine as it currently is," he says.

The new bridge also will include four-foot shoulders on each side, which the current bridge doesn't have.

Roughly 500 feet of roadway north and south of the bridge will be raised to meet the height of the new bridge, he says.

Garco's bid came in under the engineer's estimate of $1.6 million.

Funding for the project will come from bridge replacement funds administered through the U.S. Department of Transportation.