Client: Municipality of Anchorage
Owner: Municipality of Anchorage
Cost of Work: $2.2 million

This project consisted of phased improvements for ½ mile of collector street in South Anchorage, including a 43-foot asphalt-paved road-way, concrete curbs and gutters, illumination, a sidewalk, a bike path, and twin railroad bridges. The all-steel, 134-foot, three-span bridges required extensive coordination with various agencies. Design of the bridges, funded by the Municipality of Anchorage and constructed by the State of Alaska under its contract for upgrading Dimond Boulevard, required review by the Alaska Railroad prior to final approval. Despite inevitable delays associated with this three-party review, design was complete and bid-ready three months from the date of conception.

A continuous-span-type bridge was utilized due to construction limitations and time constraints. This proved extremely economical, and was the first of its kind used by the Alaska Railroad in the state. Design allowed easy erection of the steel superstructure, and the first train crossed approximately two weeks after bridge construction commenced. The bridges were constructed for just under the engineer's estimate of $1 million, and won a Merit Award from the James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation.

The remainder of the street improvement project was divided into two phases. The work encompassed surveys; foundation investigation; drainage studies and design; a decisional report; bridge, road, and retaining wall design; landscaping; contract documents; and permitting.