2008 Woodie Awards
Park Road bridge checked for structural damage by diver
Carla Keppler - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 7/11/08 Section: Metro
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A city-hired diver leaped into the murky waters of the Iowa River on Thursday to inspect structural damages to the Park Road bridge.
Though the diver and a team of city officials spent most of the day examining the area around the bridge, engineers will need additional surveying before determining if - or when - the bridge will reopen.
"As far as what the diver was able to see, there wasn't anything conclusive to say on if the bridge could open or not," said Tim McDermott, a structural engineer for VJ Engineering. McDermott was part of the group checking on the bridge Thursday.
The crew viewed the look-over through a live video and audio feed coming from equipment attached to the diver.
Swimming to the bottom of the river, the diver searched for scouring - erosion of the river bottom from underneath bridges as a result of rushing waters, which makes bridges unstable.
Iowa City City Engineer Ron Knoche said that scour was found around the two western-most piers, leading to further concern about the bridge's safety.
VJ engineers will assess above-water damages today before deciding the bridge's future.
"I think generally when a bridge is beaten up by a flood - which most have been - their condition has worsened a bit," McDermott said. "As far how much, I can't really say at this point."
The Park Road Bridge received a 78 out of 100 sufficiency rating this fall from Calhoun-Burns and Associates Inc., based in West Des Moines.
"The ratings are not an imminent issue," company President Michael Vander Wert told The Daily Iowan in a fall 2007 interview, when ratings were decided. "They are more of a way to prioritize which bridges most need maintenance."
Those checking on the bridge structure post-flood also showed little concern about a decreased rating, and city engineers do not predict much of a change.
"The structure itself is only a portion of the rating," Knoche said. "I don't believe a huge drop in ratings will result. As long as piers are OK, the bridge is still safe."
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