The City of Ripon is working on a solution to repair the Stanislaus River Bike / Pedestrian Bridge at the Ripon Recreation Area Stanislaus River Park.

“Staff has been in contact with the Army Corp of Engineers and has provided the Corp with everything they need – a footprint of the construction (and) our area that we would disturb.

“They have good idea of what it would take to do that project,” said Public Works Director James Pease, who provided an update at the March 12 Ripon City Council meeting

The bridge has been closed off since Oct. 22. Back then, a large tree located on the Ripon side fell onto a 65-foot segment of the span, in turn, causing significant damage.

The tree was removed almost immediately to relieve the weight on the bridge. A structural engineer was brought on to form an assessment. The result of that was closure to the bridge for the safety of the public due to the risk of failure.

Pease indicated that the Army Corp of Engineers met recently with those parties involved with the bridge in an effort to provide input. “We’re waiting to receive feedback,” he said at the time.

Pease, in addition, has been in contact with Contech, which is in charge of building the necessary bridge structure.

“With standard production time, the structure would be completed in September or October,” he said.

Pease was also waiting to hear back from Contech regarding an expedited production cost.