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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

AGING INFRASTRUCTURE. The city of Tacoma is considering options for replacing two segments of the Puyallup River Bridge on the Tacoma side of the river.

City ponders options for Puyallup River Bridge

By John Larson

Two segments of the Puyallup River Bridge are in need of replacement and the city of Tacoma’s Public Works Department is currently working to determine how to go about doing it.

Constructed in 1928, the bridge is the main connection between Tacoma and Fife. It is a total of 2,453 feet long, in six sections. The city of Tacoma is responsible for its maintenance.

Jim Purvey, an engineer with the city, gave an update on the project during the Nov. 4 meeting of Tacoma City Council’s Environment and Public Works Committee.

There are many deficiencies with the bridge. Parvey said the most urgent is failed columns at pier 10 on the Tacoma side, which are supported with wood and steel shoring. The engineers want to replace two segments totaling 800 feet.

One option is a steel arch with concrete girder, with a price tag of approximately $20 million.

City engineers do not recommend this option because Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad plans to install new tracks under this portion of the bridge, and this type of bridge would not provide adequate vertical clearance.

Their preferred option is a cable stay bridge, with a cost of approximately $23 million.

“We are making a 75 to 100-year decision here,” Parvey said.

The city currently has $14.04 million allocated for the project. The majority of it, $12.64 million, is federal money from the Bridge Replacement Advisory Committee (BRAC). The rest is from the city’s General Fund.

The city, BNSF and Port of Tacoma are all partners on this project. There was discussion about approaching the city of Fife for additional funding.

Councilmember Connie Ladenburg said if the bridge deteriorated to the point it had to be closed, as has happened with Murray Morgan Bridge, it would hurt Fife economically.

“They should be at the table,” she remarked.

Ladenburg said she liked the cable stay option because it would accommodate the future train tracks. “Our community is railroad dependant,” she observed.  

She said the city needs to do more to strengthen its relationship with BNSF.

Dan Soderlind, the project engineer on this project, gave another reason for going with the cable stay option. Several years ago a cultural assessment was done of this area, which indicated it could have been used as a burial site by Puyallup Indians. Other road construction projects in the state have run into costly delays as a result of disturbing such sites. Soderlind said the cable stay option has an advantage in this regard as it would require less digging into the ground than the steel arch option.

“The less we have to dig the better,” he remarked.

The city can request additional BRAC funding of up to $10 million per bridge segment.

Once an option is selected, the consulting firm hired by the city for his project, David Evans and Associates, will need 18 months for design work. It will take an additional 18 months for construction.

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