This week, a new timeline for the project was announced with a new completion date of July 2026.
The amount of design needed to award the contract options has delayed the start of construction from May 2023 to July 2023 (other than some initial mobilization). Due to finding clay in the excavation on the west side of project, the excavation has increased significantly (from 30,000 cy in January 2023 to 80,000 now) and that with the delayed start means excavation will not be completed in 2023. The site is limited in space to the point that construction sequencing cannot be overlapped to recover the timeframe to the original proposal.
The earthworks and bridge foundations are now scheduled to be completed in 2024, and the bridge is scheduled to be built in 2025, resulting in a new project completion date in 2026. Until the project is complete, visitors can still take a transit or tour bus out to the East Fork area at Mile 43, and anyone who is traveling along the Park Road this summer should expect to encounter construction traffic.
New renderings of the bridge design, below, are now available as well.
Source: BGC and Jacobs Engineering
Rendering of Pretty Rocks project site (mile 45.4), with a school bus included for scale. Tan areas represent excavation. Not based on final designs and subject to change.
Source: NPS and Jacobs Engineering
Diagram not based on the final design and subject to change.