South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge

Post by **Brad** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:40 pm

Photo update from about a week ago:

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:46 pm

i wonder if they will have master blasters come and video tape it the deconstruction of the old bridge. That's decently large bridge, and would make for an interesting episode.

windsor · Post by **windsor** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:31 am

They are sure moving along with this project. Have they started fabricating the middle section yet? Also does anyone know how they are going to get that middle section up there.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:24 pm

Judging from the guard rail/fence on the bridge, it looks like there will be pedestrian right of way. That's great.

windsor · Post by **windsor** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:30 pm

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Judging from the guard rail/fence on the bridge, it looks like there will be pedestrian right of way. That's great.

I wish they would have included a pedestrian walk way on the 480 bridge when they re-decked it a few years ago. I know we have a brand new pedestrian bridge, however people who walk to CB are still walking on the shoulder of the 480 bridge.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:34 pm

windsor wrote:
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Judging from the guard rail/fence on the bridge, it looks like there will be pedestrian right of way. That's great.
I wish they would have included a pedestrian walk way on the 480 bridge when they re-decked it a few years ago. I know we have a brand new pedestrian bridge, however people who walk to CB are still walking on the shoulder of the 480 bridge.

And those people are stupid, because there is a gleaming new pedestrian bridge over the river, and 480 is a |expletive| interstate.

windsor · Post by **windsor** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:54 pm

I would guess that it takes 20 to 25 extra min to walk up to the pedestrian bridge, cross it, then walk back.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:00 pm

I DO wish there were another pedestrian crossing direct from Downtown into CB. That said, it would also be nice if Downtown CB were closer to the river.

Allan_Love_Jr · Post by **Allan_Love_Jr** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:21 pm

That new Bridge is gonna be very nice when they get it done.

Post by **nebugeater** » Fri May 29, 2009 7:53 am

I had not looked at the Department of Roads web site for this project for a while and since I last did a couple of months ago they have added this detail.

The existing bridge will be closed from Sept 2009 through May 2010.

TO state the obvious, it looks like the new span will be open about a year from now.

Post by **Brad** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:17 pm

I see all the steel is on site... Looks like the cool part is about to begin.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:16 am

What exactly do you mean when you say "cool part"? I'm just wondering what to expect. It seemed from your photo updates that this was pretty far along.

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:28 am

yeah, i don't know that much about the bridge is cool, unless you consider additional lanes of traffic, improved traffic flow, the fact it's new, or that it basically looks the same as the existing bridge, only wider. "Cool" bridge it is not. A cool bridge actually draws tourism (golden gate, brooklyn, boston's zakim bridge, madison county, etc). This one will not make people go, "hey, before we leave from our trip here in Omaha, we have GOT to check out that new bridge!" It's new and will be nice as a result, but not cool. Screech was nice. But he wasn't cool.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:30 am

The cool part is when they start erecting the massive beams of steel on the main span. I shot some photos of the steel last night, I bet some "I" beams are over 15 feet tall!

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:50 am

Brad wrote:The cool part is when they start erecting the massive beams of steel on the main span. I shot some photos of the steel last night, I bet some "I" beams are over 15 feet tall!

Should have seen some of the beams that have been coming down Gibson, going across BN RR property and getting the the I80 bridge construction project. There have been some big ones go by I know that.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:54 am

nebugeater wrote:
Brad wrote:The cool part is when they start erecting the massive beams of steel on the main span. I shot some photos of the steel last night, I bet some "I" beams are over 15 feet tall!
Should have seen some of the beams that have been coming down Gibson, going across BN RR property and getting the the I80 bridge construction project. There have been some big ones go by I know that.

Speaking of construction, you have quite the large project going on too...

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:14 pm

Brad wrote:
nebugeater wrote:
Brad wrote:The cool part is when they start erecting the massive beams of steel on the main span. I shot some photos of the steel last night, I bet some "I" beams are over 15 feet tall!
Should have seen some of the beams that have been coming down Gibson, going across BN RR property and getting the the I80 bridge construction project. There have been some big ones go by I know that.
Speaking of construction, you have quite the large project going on too...

Yes, Largest ever at the site. It will be an "air opportunity" at some point too if we can find the air assault.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:53 pm

Well lets see pictures!

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:45 am

Here is a photo (s) that I took a few weeks ago from the river bank of the old and new bridge. I cannot post HTML details to this form like some so you will have to use the link. If you take a look you will see why I cannot post an embedded image.

http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=21761

Make sure you zoom in and around a bit if you look at this to get the full effect.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:42 pm

Is that from your property? I was looking for a place to get a good view the other day but didn't see one.

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:05 pm

Brad wrote:Is that from your property? I was looking for a place to get a good view the other day but didn't see one.

It is on the Core of Engr controlled property. You have to come through our property to get there. I can get you there if you would like some time and even if I am not here I can get it set up since you do not need to go inside the fence line necessarily. Jest need to let the guards know who and when so they keep their high powered weapons holstered. Let me know.

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:07 pm

Brad wrote:I see all the steel is on site... Looks like the cool part is about to begin.

It does look like they are close. The TEMP supports are going up in the river right now. As for all the steal being here, not yet. They were unloading some LARGE beams again today in their staging area.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:59 pm

I drove across yesterday to check it out. It's definitely quite a large-scale project!

It's probably been talked about a TON, but what is happening with the old bridge??? Knowing our "Department of ROADS" they'll probably just tear it down without a second thought.

But, if I remember correctly, the bridge is structurally sound. The main issue at stake was the traffic volume on the two-lane bridge. It just couldn't handle it.

So, WHY NOT CONVERT IT INTO A PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE?????? This would be phenomenal; another pedestrian link between NE and IA.

ALSO: I think this might have its own thread, but, with regards to the new bridge to the SOUTH of the Veteran's, that goes from 13th Street and curves underneath the Veteran's; WHAT IS IT FOR??? IT leads to NOTHING. Yeah, there's a couple of heavy industrial businesses down there, but that's it. It's a dead end. Why did they build such a substantial bridge, with HUGE pedestrian promenades (not complaining)? And what's with the way there are sort of "pods" along the sidewalk, as if for streetlights or benches?

OK, Brad, I'm counting on you to shed some light for me.

the1wags · Post by **the1wags** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:04 pm

Part of the old bridge is in the alignment of the new one. It's gotta go.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:38 am

Of course it would be out of the question to design the new bridge so that they didn't clash.

Well, if that's the case, what a |expletive| pity. Another missed opportunity.

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:11 am

Read the thread in response to your question above and you will see that it was discussed the first time you asked it Streets!

nebugeater wrote:
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:That seems like such a big access bridge that is only going to serve those businesses down along the river.

Most people have no idea how much traffic is in and out of this area. I have seen the current RR crossing blocked by trains on the only way in and out and seen cars / trucks backed up to get into the area from the tracks, up the hill and backed up on 13th street for one to two blocks in each direction. This is not a once in a blue moon occurrence either. The access road will be one lane down the hill and two coming up. With the waster treatment plant, the PCS Box Plant, Syngetna Ag chemicals, all the inbound and outbound freight from the rail yard, the new car's that are received on rail and distributed from here and another plant to the S. that I cannot think of the name of I would not be surprised if the truck count was over 1000 a day at times. Then there is all the small vehicle traffic on top of that. Unless you live or work in the area one thing that I think would surprise you by itself is the number of wast sludge trucks that go to the treatment plant to unload in a days time from pumping waste around the area be it septic systems or "other" This is not oversized.

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:15 am

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:I drove across yesterday to check it out. It's definitely quite a large-scale project!

It's probably been talked about a TON, but what is happening with the old bridge??? Knowing our "Department of ROADS" they'll probably just tear it down without a second thought.

But, if I remember correctly, the bridge is structurally sound. The main issue at stake was the traffic volume on the two-lane bridge. It just couldn't handle it.

So, WHY NOT CONVERT IT INTO A PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE?????? This would be phenomenal; another pedestrian link between NE and IA.

ALSO: I think this might have its own thread, but, with regards to the new bridge to the SOUTH of the Veteran's, that goes from 13th Street and curves underneath the Veteran's; WHAT IS IT FOR??? IT leads to NOTHING. Yeah, there's a couple of heavy industrial businesses down there, but that's it. It's a dead end. Why did they build such a substantial bridge, with HUGE pedestrian promenades (not complaining)? And what's with the way there are sort of "pods" along the sidewalk, as if for streetlights or benches?

OK, Brad, I'm counting on you to shed some light for me.

If you think the existing bridge is in "good" condition then I would suggest that you take that "oversized" access and get one look at the underside of the bridge. There is a reason they have limited the weight and height loads on the bridge. Take a look at the underside and see if you think it has years of life left in it.

the1wags · Post by **the1wags** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:06 am

Did you mean to quote someone else?

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:21 am

the1wags wrote:Did you mean to quote someone else?

YEP, but fixed now

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:36 am

this is something i found a while back that des moines did with an old bridge. The union railroad bridge at the principal riverwalk...

That bridge is pretty nice looking.

Lots of potential here, if it could have been done just a little differently...

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:51 am

As far as pedestrian Bridge, the New bridge will have a sidewalk on it. As far as keeping the old, it would have been cool, but a bridge that old would have a lot of up keep issues as well as it would have totally thrown off the alignment to connect to existing roads on the Nebraska side.

as far as "Nothing down there", that's a very vital area to Omaha:
There is an Intermodal Rail facility which is huge in this day and age of business,
There is the Omaha Waste Water treatment facility
There is another factory(box factory I believe)
Syngenta has a huge plant down there and is expanding
There is an Auto yard, there they unload new cars off of trains and load them on to trucks for all the dealerships in the area (very slow now, but when the economy picks back up they will too). There are only 2 such yards in the metro, one in Omaha, one in CB.
Finally the BNSF rail yard.

Omaha has very limited amount of Rail Served industrial areas and this land down there is prime for that.

Post by **nebugeater** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:26 am

One other point on the access road to Gibson Road. There was an assessment fee charged to each of the business owners served by this road. By no means am I implying that it covered the costs but I can assure you that the fee was very sizable.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:15 pm

Brad wrote:Omaha has very limited amount of Rail Served industrial areas and this land down there is prime for that.

Pfft. They'd have more of it if they'd stop ripping out tracks at other industrial areas...

Post by **Brad** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:30 pm

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
Brad wrote:Omaha has very limited amount of Rail Served industrial areas and this land down there is prime for that.
Pfft. They'd have more of it if they'd stop ripping out tracks at other industrial areas...

No kidding! From what I have heard, its hard to find a lot that has access to rail, and if its on the UP, its even harder to get them to serve you. I hear UP is too worried about a profit ratio for the stock holders and if you are a small business that needs a car a week, they won't waste their time with you.

fbx · Post by **fbx** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:48 pm

Here are some pics. Most of them are from last year. I'll post some more pics later of the very last span for the iowa side that we hauled 3 weeks ago.

Post by **Admin** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:53 pm

Thanks for posting those pics fbx - and welcome to eOmahaForums!

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:26 pm

Thanks for the insight, Brad.

It still seems like a strangely large, NICE bridge to be connecting down to that area. I'm not saying it shouldn't be, but, why not replace the bridges over 480 west of Downtown large, somewhat design conscious bridges like this one?

Even though the old bridge will be torn down, I'm very glad to hear that there will be pedestrian right of way on the new bridge, probably connecting to the fabulous trail expansions on the CB side.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:05 pm

The new one will have the steel design like the old one over the river. The concrete "I" beams are just for the approach.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:35 pm

Seriously???!!!

Well that's cool!

Are there any renderings?

You don't see too many NEW steal frame-supported bridges..

Will the pedestrian/bicycle right of way be pretty wide, similar to what you see on the Abbott Drive bridge coming into DTO?

icejammer · Post by **icejammer** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:21 pm

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:It still seems like a strangely large, NICE bridge to be connecting down to that area.

Probably because U.S. Hwy 275 is still an important transportation route?