Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Third Street Bridge topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission approves certificate for Third Street Bridge repairs with monitoring and historic-engineer conditions
Summary
The commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for the 1933 Third Street Bridge rehabilitation, adding conditions including peer review by a Secretary of the Interior Standards-qualified historic engineer, stabilization and vibration monitoring plans, and a paint-sample review before coating work begins.
The Historic Preservation Commission on March 21 approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for a comprehensive repair and rehabilitation project on the 1933 Third Street Bridge.
Natalia Kwiatkowski of the Planning Department summarized staff recommendations and conditions intended to ensure the work remains compatible with the bridges historic character. The proposed scope includes repair and replacement of steel bridge members and the fender-pile system, concrete- and deck repairs, repainting and recoating, replacement of a traffic-control gate and a pedestrian gate, and installation of temporary pile-supported scaffolding and debris containment.
Thomas Reutman, a structural engineer and project manager from Public Works, told the commission the intent is to maintain the landmark structure rather than change its character, and to use minimally invasive methods to address ongoing corrosion and deterioration. He said the team expects the amount of replaced structural steel to be "well under" the 25 percent threshold that would trigger a return to the commission; the sponsor estimated change of members to be "approximately less than 1%" and noted the steel deck accounts for about 13% of the bridge's weight depending on counting conventions.
Staff recommended, and commissioners approved, conditions including review of paint samples by preservation staff prior to coating, peer review by a historic engineer meeting Secretary of the Interior Standards to review the stabilization and monitoring plan, quarterly progress reports with photos, pre- and post-construction conditions assessments, vibration monitoring at adjacent operator and watchman houses, and a requirement that the project return to the commission if 25% or more of the bridgeweight must be replaced. The motion to approve the COA with conditions passed unanimously 7 to 0.
The approval included no changes to the plan's overall intent to preserve the bridge's historic character; project sponsors said federally funded work (Federal Highway Bridge Repair Program) requires compliance with Secretary of the Interior Standards.
