Though vehicles have been rolling across the new Broadway Bridge for more than a month now, work will continue on the project, likely until June, the top state highway official said Thursday.
"There are a few items that are left, namely the 16-foot [wide] shared-use path and the ramp from Broadway to LaHarpe [Boulevard]," Scott Bennett, the director of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, said Thursday afternoon at a ceremony to dedicate the bridge that crosses the Arkansas River and connects Little Rock and North Little Rock.
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Photos by Brandon Riddle
Photos by Brandon Riddle
Work continued on the bridge even as the ceremony took place, necessitating the closure of a section of the outside northbound lane. But it was open by the time the ceremony ended and the afternoon rush hour had begun.
"There will be some occasional lane closures still in the off-peak times. We hope that those two major parts will open in the early part of June," Bennett said. "This has really been a great and successful construction project."
Pulaski County's County Judge Barry Hyde, North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith and Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola praised the close coordination between state highway officials, the contractor, and city and county officials that made the project happen.
"The logistics, design and timely completion of all this was all a team effort," Hyde said.
[THEN AND NOW: Compare the new and old Broadway Bridge]
He said additional work, including the installation of a 60-foot flagpole on the east side of the bridge, should be completed this summer. The additional work includes etchings in the shared-use path and other work that reflect significant wars in which the American military has participated. That work is being paid for with private funds.
Adding lighting, similar to what's on other bridges that cross the river in the area, so far has no funding source, but the lights eventually will be installed, Hyde said.
"Folks are looking to the county and to the cities, I'm certain, as well to find a little leadership," he said. "Maybe it will be an opportunity where we can all work together a little bit more so than on the arches deal."
The county provided $20 million to pay for the twin basket-handle arches that support the bridge.
He and others on hand to dedicate the $98.4 million bridge -- more than 100 times the cost of the $971,000 it took to build the 94-year-old bridge it replaced -- said that in spite of the unfinished work, the new bridge stands as a technological marvel that will serve the region and its future generations well.
"It is extremely substantial structure that should stand the test of time for many, many years to come," Bennett said.
Bennett noted that the bridge includes 24 shafts that were drilled an average of 65 feet into the rock on the floor of the Arkansas River, and roughly 26,000 square feet of retaining walls, 30,000 cubic yards of fill material, 25,000 cubic yards of concrete and 13.5 million pounds of structural steel.
The two arch sections alone contain 10,000 cubic yards of concrete and more than 8 million pounds of structural steel, Bennett said.
That the bridge contains so much steel will stand as a testament to the military veterans past and present for which the bridge was dedicated, said Russ Smith, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam and whose father was a P-51 pilot who became a prisoner of war after his aircraft was shot down a few days before D-Day in World War II.
"It is fitting as well that it should be made of steel because war takes nerves of cold steel," Smith said in remarks during his keynote address.
The dedication was held on the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War I. The earlier bridge was formally dedicated in March 1923, five years after the war ended, to all Arkansas veterans of that war.
A total of 71,862 soldiers from Arkansas served in the war, according to the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Of those, 2,183 died, more than half from illness rather than war injuries. Another 1,751 were wounded, according to the reference.
"Seven months ago, we stood on the old Broadway Bridge and said farewell," Hyde said. "The bridge was an iconic symbol, a reminder of the great sacrifice so many had made to protect and promote democracy around the world.
Thursday's dedication also was held on opening day of the 2017 baseball season for the Arkansas Travelers, the Class AA affiliate for the Seattle Mariners. The team plays its home games at Dickey-Stephens Ballpark, which is at the foot of the north end of the new bridge.
At one point during the early phase of the project, the bridge would've been closed for the summer, at the height of the Travelers' season, but delays changed the schedule.
"This construction project could not have been better for us," said Russ Meeks, the ball club's president. "It was perfect. It started immediately after the season ended last year and went that whole time, finished early and opened the bridge up."
Smith said the bridge reflects the vibrancy of the region, from the modern ballpark the Travelers call home and Verizon Arena on the north side of the river to the newly renovated Robinson Center Music Hall on the south side, as well as the bustling entertainment districts on both sides of the river.
"This tells the world that we're not a sleepy little part of the world," Smith said. "We're a very progressive part of this country. We want to do things the right way. If we can't do it first class, then we're not going to do it all. This is a first-class bridge."
Stodola praised state highway engineers and the main bridge contractor, Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Mo., for keeping the old bridge open as long as possible and limiting the time the bridge was closed to traffic.
"They recognize it has a tremendous economic impact on our cities and on our people," he said.
Hyde said that while the bridge is vital to the free movement of people and goods in and around the county and cities, he hoped people would remember the service members for whom it was dedicated as the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
"It is an architectural tribute to those who served and continue to serve our country in times of peace and of war, and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice," said Hyde, a U.S. Air Force veteran. "May it remind us not to take for granted the relative ease and conveniences of our daily lives. As you pass over the bridge on your daily commute or to catch a Travs game, keep our veterans and active-duty military members in mind."
Metro on 04/07/2017