Proposals submitted for Missouri river Pedestrian Bridge

April 19, 2006

Proposals submitted for Missouri river Pedestrian Bridge

By NANCY NEUROHR

hree teams made up of builders, architects and engineers submitted proposals last week for the the controversial pedestrian bridge over the


	Twin towers and cables - Designer: Figg Bridge Builders Builder: Cramer & Associates

Missouri River. Earlier this year, the city of Omaha decided to adopt the design-build concept in order to persuade companies to submit their ideas for building the bridge within the cost of a $22 million limit.

The original bridge design was sent out for bids in 2004 but the lowest bid came back at $45 million, twice the expected cost.

The firms that made the most recent proposals with their designs staying within budget are:

Figg Bridge Builders of Denver, CO., designer; Cramer & Associates of Des Moines, IA., builder
HNTB Corporation of Kansas City, MO., designer; APAC-Kansas from Kansas City, KS, builder
Harrington & Cortelyou of Kansas City, MO., designer; Jensen Construction Co. from Des Moines, IA., builder. Bahr, Vermeer & Haecker of Omaha also participated in the design.


	Twin towers and cables - Designer: HNTB Corporation Builder: APAC-Kansas

All three teams will be interviewed about their proposals on April 27th by a committee. Mayor Mike Fahey will pick one of the designs then it will be sent to the City Council for approval.

The city of Council Bluffs, the Iowa and Nebraska Roads Departments, the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District and other federal agencies will also have a chance to voice their opinions but the ultimate decision will come from Omaha.

Many factors will need to be considered including the quality of materials, construction schedules and past experience with the companies in addition to the conceptual design.


	Arch with cables - Designer: Harrington & Cortelyou Builder: Jensen Construction Co.

Construction could begin this year according to acting Omaha Parks Director Steve Scarpello.

The bridge, which will rise between Omaha's riverfront and a proposed nature park in Iowa is meant to be an architecturally significant landmark and be an exclamation mark for Omaha.

Many citizens have questioned spending the money for a project such as this but $19 million comes from a federal grant that was awarded for the project almost six years ago and will be lost if not used.