JBR Virginia Street Bridge Project Featured in the Reno Gazette Journal

JBR has been retained by the  city of Reno and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Virginia Street Bridge project. JBR will be responsible for performing all biological and cultural resource surveys, assisting with the public outreach and stakeholder group coordination meetings, and consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the Endangered Species Act. This project was featured in the Reno Gazette Journal.

Reno Gazette Journal, November 6, 2010

Plans to tear down and replace Reno’s historic but problematic Virginia Street Bridge will proceed following action Friday by a coalition of local officials.

The Flood Project Coordinating Committee agreed up to $1.8 million should be spent to continue planning and begin design of a new bridge. Construction of the $20 million project could commence in 2013 if funding is secured.

The 105-year-old bridge, made famous in stories of people tossing wedding rings into the Truckee River after divorce, causes major problems during floods.

A bottleneck, the double-arch concrete span captures logs and other flood debris, causing water to back up into the streets of downtown Reno. It was a major source of city flooding during the Truckee River’s last major flood in January 1997.

A smaller flood in 2005 damaged the structure, further demonstrating the need for its replacement, officials said.

“It won’t stand much longer,” Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said Friday.
The $1.8 million will fund public outreach efforts to determine the exact nature of the open-span structure that will replace the old bridge, begin design and obtain needed permits.

The project, officials said Friday, should also serve as a design template for projects to replace other downtown bridges that contribute to Truckee River flooding. Bridges spanning the river at Sierra, Lake, Center, Booth and Arlington streets also need replacement.

“This bridge will kind of set the scene for those other bridges,” said Kerri Lanza, an engineer with Reno public works.

Officials stressed the need to proceed with the Virginia Street Bridge project as soon as possible, with surveying activity needing to occur while the Truckee River is low.

“It’s important to get the surveying done,” said Naomi Duerr, director of the Truckee River flood project. “The river is going to start rising. The rains are coming, and the snow is coming.”

Reno Councilman Dan Gustin described the bridge replacement as a the “linchpin” for downtown Reno’s portion of the broader $1.6 billion flood project.
He also described the need to remove such a historic structure as unfortunate.
“That’s always been the gag in my throat, as you know,” Gustin said.

--By Jeff Delong - Reno Gazette Journal
Saturday, November 6, 2010, Reprinted with permission courtesy of RGJ.