Designs for American Tobacco Trail bridge a hit

DURHAM -- Designer Steven Grover presented three concepts Tuesday night for the American Tobacco Trail bridge over Interstate 40 to an audience of about 70 people.

They responded with applause and went home, asked to submit their "gut level" preferences within a week.

"We want to keep the process moving," said Dave Charters, project manager with the consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The bridge, which has been in the works for years, is scheduled for completion in 2010, said city engineer Byron Brady. Connecting two segments of the trail near Southpoint shopping center, it is part of a $6.36-million project completing the Trail from N.C. 54 to the Chatham County line.

To a full house at City Hall's council chamber, Grover explained some of the technical and aesthetic factors that affect bridge design -- including security for pedestrians and cyclists using the bridge and protecting the structure from would-be graffiti artists.

Several types of bridges, he said, had been eliminated from consideration because of expense and difficulty in building at that location. He presented three types that remain under consideration, with models and computerized simulations of how they might look and function from various points of view.

The three bridges under consideration are: a low-profile arch; a steel truss similar to the pedestrian bridge over Raleigh's Beltline near the N.C. Museum of Art; and a "cable-stayed" structure suspended from a single pylon at one end. "The Triangle bridge," he said, referring to the last design's appearance as seen from the highway.

The cable-stayed bridge has advantages, he said, in ease of building and minimal disruption of I-40 traffic. "In the last few weeks, this design started clicking into place," Grover said after Tuesday's meeting.

Those attending were given handouts describing each type of bridge and listing particular considerations Grover had mentioned, and they were then asked to send their responses to Brady. Grover said the designers would use public input to help settle on a final design proposal for the city. That design, said Ed Venable of the city engineering division, should be finalized by fall.

"No matter which way we go, we're going to make this beautiful," Grover said.