Jordan River Parkway Trail

Technical Description:

• Continental^® Pedestrian Truss
• Width: 14 ft
• Span: 280 ft
• Style: Tied Arch
• Finish: Painted
• Decking: Concrete

Initial planning of the Jordan River Parkway Trail in Salt Lake City, Utah began in the 1970s with the intent to connect communities across the state. Following the natural course of the Jordan River, the trail connects Utah County to Davis County and cuts through a myriad of residential communities, commercial areas and undeveloped land. Finally, after decades of planning, one final bridge was needed just south of the Utah State Fairpark to cross the most challenging section: rail yards, private property and a utility hub. Once installed, the 45 miles of trails would be complete.

Salt Lake City, Stanley Consultants and Gerber Construction all worked closely with Contech Engineered Solutions to identify, design and fabricate the best solution. A 280' x 14' Tied-Arch Continental® Pedestrian Truss with a cast-in-place concrete deck was selected for its cost effectiveness and ease of construction. The Tied Arch design allows for spans that exceed 300' while offering a unique and aesthetic approach to prefabricated bridge systems.

David Osborn, Senior Engineer with Stanley Consultants stated, "Contech provided options that helped the owner realize their vision for the aesthetics of the bridge. It was great to have the option to leave out the top truss member so the bridge has a more open feel than originally specified."

Before installation began, careful planning was needed to manage the utilities and active railroad tracks in the area. For instance, the high-voltage transmission lines running overhead were deactivated for safety reasons and train schedules were temporarily halted creating large blocks of time for construction.

The truss portion of the structure was fabricated and delivered to the site in five sections. Gerber assembled the sections on-site and launched the bridge into place via crane. Shortly afterwards, four arch sections were delivered, connected and attached to the truss bridge. Due to the length of the bridge, active train traffic and the confined area, a temporary abutment consisting of three, stacked mobile storage units was placed between the tracks. The abutment was utilized during assembly of the truss structure and to provide additional support while the arch was assembled and tied to the truss. Installation of the bridge was completed in approximately three and a half weeks.

A major component of the project was to accommodate the vertical clearance requirements between the top of the railroad tracks and the bottom of the bridge. To facilitate this, nearly 500' of ramps were built on either side of the bridge. The vertical requirement was achieved while also meeting standards for ADA access. Additionally, a 10' tall, 2" x 2" mesh panel fence was installed along the length of the bridge to keep pedestrians from climbing over or dropping items from the bridge.

The success of the project was attributed to the ongoing communication between all parties involved as they shared ideas and analyzed figures. Jason Woffinden, Project Manager with Gerber said, "Contech provided ongoing support from the preconstruction meeting to the completion and grand opening. They provided structural design, including all required steps through the review process to acceptance; a local sales representative to coordinate all activities related to our work and the specific needs of the owners; and structural drawings for assembly. They coordinated all delivery schedules according to our assembly needs, provided clarifications, adjustments, submittals, anchor details at concrete foundations and all other information and support needed to successfully compete the project on time, under budget and with no safety incidents."

In December 2018, this project received a Highway/Bridge: Award of Merit from ENR Mountain States.

Technical Description:

• Continental^® Pedestrian Truss
• Width: 14 ft
• Span: 280 ft
• Style: Tied Arch
• Finish: Painted
• Decking: Concrete