A large aluminum bridge frame arrived in Miramar last week, the latest sign of progress from San Mateo County’s efforts to replace the Medio Bridge.
On Thursday, crews labored to position the 30,000-pound structure. But it's still unclear exactly when the bridge, which spans Arroyo de en Medio Creek and connects the Coastal Trail, will finally reopen to pedestrians and bikers. The bridge was supposed to be installed shortly after it arrived on April 20. But according to the county, the company that operates the 159,000-pound crane needed to install the bridge was waiting on Caltrans to permit the crane to drive over Highway 92. Early this week, almost two weeks after the aluminum frame arrived, Caltrans granted the permit.
Project Engineer Alex Zhang said the crane will arrive in Miramar at the end of this week. But if it’s too windy, the crane won’t operate. With luck, Zhang said, the bridge will be installed by May 5, three weeks after it arrived on the street. Zhang said the county and contractors will determine when the bridge will open after it’s secure. The county will update the status online at through a link at smcgov.org.
The project to replace the bridge, also known as the Mirada Road Pedestrian Bridge, has been delayed repeatedly since it closed in July 2020 after it was determined to be structurally unstable and rusting. The county got a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission in May 2021 to allow the work. But to meet the conditions of approval, the Department of Public Works had to redesign the project, remove portions of the rock slope protection and improve public access with overlooks, bicycle racks and a new stairway. The county expects the concrete stairway to be built at the southern cliff in June.
The county’s contractor for the project, Gordon N. Ball, started construction in June 2022. But supply chain issues and the series of winter storms early this year have hampered progress. The delays have cost the county an additional $275,000, bringing the total project price tag to more than $4.3 million.
A large part of the project involved armoring the bluffs bordering the bridge with concrete and rip rap to deal with erosion and sea level rise. The county went back and forth with the California Coastal Commission to get permitting to armor, which is something the commission usually prefers to avoid.
In November, contractors completed armoring the cliffs with rip rap and concrete. Public Works did not want to install so much rip rap that it would consume much of the beach. The county also did not opt to cover the walls with concrete due to high construction costs.
Ultimately, the Coastal Commission required that the armoring coverage be reduced by nearly a third, and the overall armor length reduced by nearly 40 feet. County staff estimate that the sand elevations there can vary from about two feet high in the winter to more than 11 feet in the summer. The idea is that beachgoers might not notice the rocks under the sand in the summer, and the construction has a minimum design life of about 40 years, though it could last up to 60 years.
(5) comments
Shades of the Main Street Bridge which is still in need of replacement.
They won't even maintain the MSB. Almost two million has been wasted designing a new bridge that will never be. Meanwhile, the cracks and potholes get bigger everyday allowing water to infiltrate the structure and hastening the day when there will be no choice but to replace.
Just another version of let it rust until it busts.
Three years (and counting!) to get to this point is too long. Certainly we can do better. And if not, someone had better get to work at Hwy1/Coronado.
The Coastside Infrastructure repair policy is the rule.
“Let it rust until it busts!”
It’ll be fixed just in time for the new Seymour bridge to follow the fate of the old one.
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