Centennial Lakes Park

Technical Description:

• 2-BridgeCor^® Structural Plate
• Span: 29-ft. 11-in.
• Rise: 8-ft. 4-in.
• Length: 16.5 ft.

There are plenty of year-round activities to enjoy at Centennial Lakes Park, a 24 acre recreational hot spot located in Edina, Minnesota. Hosting more than a million visitors annually, the park features over 1.5 miles of paved pathways, a miniature golf course, lawn bowling, paddleboats and ice skating in the winter. When two aging pedestrian bridges became too expensive to maintain, the City of Edina elected to replace them.

Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., the project engineer, not only had the challenge of replacing the existing bridges with structures that were highly aesthetic, but they also had to select a solution that could be built with lighter weight equipment to minimize damage to the existing infrastructure. This was especially difficult given the fact that the only site access was through pedestrian sidewalks in a tight building corridor, and the park needed to stay open during construction.

After weighing a number of clear span options, it was decided that a 29’-11” span x 8’-4” rise x 16.5 long BridgeCor® Structural Plate from Contech Engineered Solutions was the best overall choice for replacing both of the existing bridges. The BridgeCor shape also provided a perfect canvas for additional visual enhancements such as accent lighting, a steel coping to frame the ends of the structures  and a stone clad headwall to pull everything together.

The new structures were designed to preserve the eye-catching attributes of the old bridges, but with a wider deck surface to improve access for wheelchairs, strollers and maintenance vehicles. The dimensions of the BridgeCor structure also helped maintain paddleboat, Zamboni, and ice skating access, amenities that both the city and patrons appreciate year round.

Although the project took a few years to move from design inception to bidding, the schedule for completion was aggressive with the park seeing year-round use. Despite a tight work area and aggressive completion schedule, the project was delivered on time with little disruption to the myriad of activities the park has to offer.

Contech also supplied a 48” diameter Aluminized Corrugated Metal Pipe (CMP) Detention System, 204 lf in length. This underground feature provided 2,411 cubic feet of stormwater storage, allowing the city to utilize above ground space that would have been lost with a pond. The system not only helped with stormwater attenuation but also included perforations to allow for metered, natural stormwater recharge into the existing ground.

When asked about the overall project delivery, Kimley-Horn's Project Manager, Greg Brown, replied, “Contech staff collaborated with our engineers very well on the Centennial Lakes bridge project which was critical in developing a unique design that met the high degree of aesthetics desired for the park setting."

Technical Description:

• 2-BridgeCor^® Structural Plate
• Span: 29-ft. 11-in.
• Rise: 8-ft. 4-in.
• Length: 16.5 ft.