The city of Sacramento this week hired San Francisco-based T.Y. Lin International as the lead architect for the I Street Bridge replacement project over the Sacramento River.
The price tag for the new bridge—which is more than 100 years old—has more than doubled, reaching $172 million. The replacement structure will become the first new bridge to cross the river in more than 50 years.
When city officials began planning the project about four years ago, they estimated the total cost to be between $70 and $80 million, according to a report from The Sacramento Bee. But after meeting with U.S. Coast Guard officials in 2015 and 2016, they learned the Coast Guard would require a gap of at least 272 ft wide for barges to pass through when the bridge’s lifts are up—more than 100 ft wider than the current bridge. This requirement has more than doubled the cost.
Sacramento’s new bridge will be built between the Sacramento Railyards and the planned West Sacramento Washington development. The existing bridge, built in 1910, will be used for rail. The City Council on Tuesday approved $320,695 in city money to T.Y. Lin for the first phase of the project, including five design concept options, a digital 3-D model and a series of public meetings taking place next year. The city will continue to pay the firm for additional phases.
The federal government has agreed to pay about 88% of the project’s cost, leaving the two cities to come up with about $24 million, if the project’s total cost hits $200 million. Officials expect bridge construction to begin in 2021 and for it to open in 2022.
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Source: The Sacramento Bee
