The Ripon City Council approved the purchase of a part necessary to repairing the Stanislaus River Bike / Pedestrian Bridge.

The cost for the 62.65-foot end-to-end pedestrian truss bridge connector by Contech Engineered Solutions came out to about $107,000. Some of that is expected to be covered via the deductible from the City of Ripon’s insurance provider, according to Public Works Director James Pease at the special meeting held last Friday.

City Administrator Kevin Werner said additional money on the contingency side could come from emergency and / or reserve funds.

His staff is still calculating the total cost of the project, which includes environmental consulting coupled with work that has to be done along with the cost of installation – Werner will bring that part back to Council to determine the funding side.

He received the go-ahead from elected leader to select and enter into agreements with qualified contractors for the Stanislaus River / Bike Pedestrian Bridge repairs.

Under a section of the California Public Contracts Code permits, the Council – given the emergency circumstances – also adopted resolution that allowed for the City to undertake the necessary repairs without the public bidding process, City Attorney Tom Terpstra said.

A large tree damaged that span on the Ripon Recreation Area of the Stanislaus River back in October, causing significant damage to the bike / pedestrian bridge.

The span has since been closed for safety reasons.

“Despite efforts to seal off the damage portions of the bridge, it has become a potentially attractive nuisance with the risk of further damage and / or personal injury that constitutes emergency circumstances,” said Terpstra.

Staff along with the consulted structural engineer and multiple contractors recently evaluated several different repair options. Included was the temporary shoring to provide a temporary opening coupled with permanent in-place restoration via use of heat treatment, and added structural reinforcement.

“We’re not replacing the bridge – just that one segment,” said Pease.

Contech Engineered Solutions was the original bridge manufacturer. “It made sense to go back to the original manufacturer,” he said.

The delivered replacement bridge segment will be painted and delivered to the City of Ripon.

“There’s an eight-to-10-week lead time on the final submittal package from Contech and the current production completion estimated is (this) November,” Pease noted.

He added that the next step will consist of a contract to perform the necessary clearing, bridge segment removal / installation, concrete deck replacement, and tree clearing and removal to eliminate and hazards concerning the bridge.

Staff will continue to work with the Army Corps of Engineers in anticipation that all environmental and procedural measures are resolved prior to the estimated delivery date.