DM Progress Report: Expect Fifth Street Bridge Rededication This Fall

Wed July 13 2016
Posted Jul 13, 2016
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The bridge of many names—now officially known as the Fifth Street Bridge*—has shown amazing progress since late June.

If you’ve walked or pedaled past the Fifth Street Bridge recently, you may have noticed the Cramer Engineering crews have begun to securing new stringers across the steel structure and have installed about three-fourths of the deck.

From the accompanying photo, you will notice that the width of the walking/biking surface reduces to 14 feet wide and then back to the original about 24 feet (trusting my memory on this dimension) over the two piers. Think of the space over the piers as something like the overlook spaces on the Union Railway (red) Bridge. Of course railings will be installed later. As a point of reference, newer trails in the Des Moines area are 12 feet wide; the Fifth Street Bridge width will be a couple of feet wider.

According to Ben Cole, city engineer overseeing this project, the rehabilitation of the bridge is going well. To date no major damage has been uncovered that requires funding beyond the $200,000 contingency fund—good news. Change orders total just $75,000.

About 90% of the steel repairs have been made along with accompanying redundant structures (the new light brown steel) that will make the bridge sturdier. The new deck being installed is actually the old timbers that were removed from the Fifth Street Bridge, then flipped over for a better surface. This represents a cost-saving. The stringers (beneath the deck) are all new, as planned.

The painting crew intends to arrive about Aug. 1. The schedule calls for about four weeks to tent the bridge, sandblast the green lead paint, and apply the new green paint. Of course, cooperation with Mother Nature is required.

When will the bridge be finished?
That’s what we all really want to know! Ben Cole reports that the contractor has until Nov. 18 to finish the project. Informed guessers (not official) think about Oct. 1 for a reopening.

Yes, this project on the Meredith Trail should be finished ahead of schedule. Attribute this good outcome to climate change—crews got an early start on the project after a mild winter.

In the spring of 2017, donor plazas on each bank of the Raccoon River will be completed.

For more information about this 1898 wagon bridge—listed on the National Register of Historic Places—see http://savejacksonbridge.com/

The bridge was closed in April 2013 due to concerns about the bridge structural safety. In excess of $2.3 million from private and public funds to rehabilitate the bridge.

*For you history buffs: This 19th-century bridge was known as the Fifth Street Bridge for more than 100 years. Sometime early in the 21st century, the name Jackson Street Bridge started to appear on city documents (even though there's not a Jackson Street in Des Moines, but rather Jackson Avenue). Others refer to the green bridge or that old bridge down by Principal Park.