SMALL CITIES/RURAL COMMUNITIES PROJECT OF THE YEAR: STRUCTURES
Bud Hendrickson Memorial Nature Trail & Pedestrian Bridge Managing Agency: City of La Crosse, Wisconsin Primary Contractor: Lunda Construction Co. Primary Consultant: Mead & Hunt Nominated By: Wisconsin Chapter
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roviding a key link between the City of Onalaska and downtown La Crosse, the Bud Hendrickson Bridge Memorial Pedestrian Bridge crosses the BNSF rail yard between North Salem Road and Oak Street. It connects to about a mile of paved trail through the upper North Side neighborhood, allowing riders to get from Enterprise Avenue to Gillette Street. Paid for with state, federal and local funds, construction of the 600-foot bridge began last fall, but planning for the project began nearly two decades ago. It was named for Bud Hendrickson, who started dumping leaves and grass clippings between abandoned rail beds behind his Harvey Street home sometime in the 1950s. Over the years, it became a trail system.
The BNSF rail yard passes through significant wetlands, being part of the La Crosse River marsh. To minimize the impact on the wetland during construction, a geotextile filter fabric was laid down over the wetlands area. Granular, engineered fill was placed over the fabric creating a level working surface, a temporary staging area, distributing the construction loads, and minimizing the settlement of the underlying wetlands. When the project was complete, the fill and fabric were removed from the wetlands. The wetlands vegetation recovered very well as a result of these measures. Additionally, 0.275 acres of wetlands impacted by the project were mitigated
at the Mill Bluff wetland banking site including a 1.2:1 ratio resulting in 0.287 acres mitigated. The Bud Hendrickson Memorial Nature Trail and Pedestrian Bridge is a significant collaboration between the BNSF Railroad, Dairyland Power Cooperative, and the City of La Crosse. Dairyland Power owns significant land that boards the west side of the BNSF rail yard from Gillette Street north. They recognized the benefits to the community that are gained by having a network of bike/pedestrian trails and encouraging alternative forms of transportation. They donated a strip of land to the City for the development of a trail.
Lightweight concrete was used on the bridge deck to reduce the load on the bridge trusses, reducing the size of the truss members. Trusses and structural members are core 10 steel, eliminating the need for coatings or paint. The bridge handrail is galvanized to reduce maintenance expenses, and anti-graffiti coating was used to make dealing with graffiti easier. Concrete was pumped through an existing stormwater culvert located outside of and adjacent to the railyard, underneath the BNSF rail yard to a central work area inside the rail yard. A crane with concrete bucket positioned in the central work area then delivered concrete to the bridge site. www.apwa.net
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July 2016
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APWA Reporter
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