Adam RollinsThis story was originally published in the Government Contracting Pipeline newsletter from Strategic Partnerships, Inc. To have the latest government contracting news stories from across the country delivered straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe.
The city of Santa Monica, California, will spend $29 million to replace the Santa Monica Pier Bridge. The city confirmed that both bidding and construction are expected to begin in 2025.
The 84-year-old pier bridge, one of the most iconic historical landmarks in the city, is structurally deficient and unsuitable for expected daily traffic increases of the 2028 Olympics. To preserve the pier’s cultural significance, the project will rehabilitate and reinstall the historic blue pier sign. The city will install a replica sign on the pier during construction.
The replacement bridge will be fully seismically sound and designed to serve the needs of residents, businesses and visitors. The city will build a wider bridge on the same alignment as the existing bridge. Plans include building an ADA-accessible path, bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks.
During construction, the project will install temporary bridges to accommodate public parking, delivery vehicles and emergency vehicles and to ensure residents can still access the beach. The replacement bridge will retain the same number of vehicular travel lanes once completed. The project’s design places the vehicular and bicycle lanes at the north side of the bridge and the sidewalks at the south side.
The city also anticipates making minor improvements to the pier deck as part of the project. Plans include removing parts of the pier that connect to the bridge to ensure the city and conduct demolition. The project will reconstruct parts of the deck to connect it to the replacement bridge. The city will make other modifications to widen and extend the bridge in certain parts and reconstruct and replace other aspects to maintain the bridge’s historic appearance.
Photo courtesy AramilFeraxa
