North Round Valley Road Bridge Open
North Round Valley Road Bridge Open
Ribbon-cutting will mark end of lengthy repair and construction
The public is invited Thursday to help celebrate a long-awaited milestone, as North Round Valley Road Bridge is reopened to vehicular traffic.
Inyo County is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the bridge this Thursday, June 15, at 4:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
The bridge was severely damaged in summer of 2017 by high-velocity flows in Pine Creek resulting from an above-average snowpack from the prior winter. Built in 1987, the North Round Valley Road Bridge crossing Pine Creek consisted of a 24-foot long, single-span, cast-in-place reinforced concrete slab superstructure supported on reinforced concrete abutments founded on spread footings. The high and fast flows in Pine Creek caused approximately 50 feet of the south approach roadway to collapse into the water. The flows also exposed and undermined portions of the south abutment footing.
The damaged bridge has been replaced by an approximately 85-foot single-span, pre-cast/prestressed wide flange girder superstructure on high cantilever abutments founded on cast-in-drilled-hole concrete piles.
Efforts to repair the bridge and reopen the roadway began in earnest in 2018 when the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with MGE Engineering to design a replacement structure. Fountainhead Consulting Corporation came on board in 2020 to provide construction management services, and the Board awarded the construction contract to Spiess Construction Company in January 2021 in the amount of $3,334,502.55. Inyo County Public Works formally accepted the bridge structure as constructed on June 12, 2023.
According to Public Works Director Mike Errante, the entire project, including design, construction management, contract work, and change orders, cost $4.8 million. Errante noted that 75 percent – $3.6 million – will be reimbursed by the California Office of Emergency Services.
“This ribbon-cutting is a long time coming, and I join residents and visitors in celebrating the completion of the North Round Valley Bridge,” said Chairperson Jen Roeser, in whose district the bridge is located. “It’s somewhat ironic that the bridge was damaged during one of our largest runoff years on record and we’re reopening it during the largest runoff season we’ve seen in recorded history. It’s a testament to the force of nature and the dedication of our Public Works staff in seeing this project to completion.”
The North Round Valley Bridge Road is located approximately 13 miles northwest of Bishop, accessible off of U.S. 395.
6 years to fix the bridge and you are patting yourselves on the back by holding a public ribbon cutting with refreshments!? How utterly embarrassing for you. What exactly are you celebrating? This seems much more an example of inefficiency or incompetency in small county government not being able to handle a public works emergency repair project. After 6 years, I would think an apology rather than a ribbon cutting would be in order.
6 years, really…does anyone else think that repair time frame is ridiculous? What an inconvenience it has been to the community that used it daily. Hopefully the new bridge survives the current melting snow pack.