Bridge Steps get face lift

The single most photographed bridge in denver is getting a much needed facelift over the next few months.

Originally designed to look beautiful, which it did, the bridge also collected water on the stairs causing a rust. Over the past couple years it has been repainted, and repainted, and repainted.

Well now it is getting a full overhaul with some beautiful granite stairs. It will be looking beautiful!

Here is that schedule for those of you who live or use the bridge regularly. The good news is that only one side gets the face lift at a time so you don’t have to worry about going around. Schedule from Riverfront Park.

DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Weeks beginning:

* 8/6 – Close Bridge Stairs and open temporary stairs for pedestrian access
* 8/6 – Remove center railing on Bridge Stairs
* 8/6 – Set up supports for bike ramp
* 8/6 – Begin removal of treads

* 8/13 – Continue removal of treads/landings/decking

* 8/20 – Continue removal of treads/landings/decking

* 8/27 – Remove outside railings/decking/structural support angles
* 8/27 – Start installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/4 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/10 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel

* 9/17 – Continue installation of new steel angles and tube steel
* 9/17 – Start installation of granite treads

* 9/24 – Sand blast existing white/rust colored structural steel
* 9/24 – Painting of existing steel
* 9/24 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/1 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/8 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/15 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/22 – Continue installation of granite treads/landings

* 10/29 – Completion activities/demobilize/punchlist

Which means it will be open just in time for Halloween. Lets all have a spooky celebration there.

And for those who don’t know the exact details of this famous Denver bridge here is the quick scoop…

Denver Millennium Bridge Opens

Date: 26/04/2002

The Denver Millennium Footbridge was officially opened by the Denver Mayor, Wellington Webb, on Monday 22 April at a ceremony attended by city and state dignitaries as well as engineers, architects, and local residents.

Arup provided civil and structural design services from the beginning of 2000, and were present on site throughout the construction phase. The design team overcame the significant challenges presented by the complex geometry of the cable-stayed structure’s 200ft (61m) tall steel mast and unusually wide deck (80ft / 24m) to produce this spectacular structure.

and…

Millennium Bridge in Denver
One of the greatest hurdles architectural engineers faced in creating this beautiful bridge in LoDo was developing a clear span across 125 feet of railroad track while keeping the vertical elevation gain at less than 30 feet. They decided to develop a unique “cable stayed” solution using a tall mast to hang the deck. The mast was placed on the city side of the bridge visible from downtown. The cables to both the bridge deck and grade were arrayed from there. To make the structure as thin as possible a steel frame that derives its stiffness from tension applied to the thin structure of the deck was conceived. This “post-tensioning” was achieved by installing beams with engineered sag, then using the mast as a lever to pull up the deck with the cables into a shallow bow while the opposite end of the bridge is held down by two steel rods. Concrete was then applied pushing down the deck and applying tension to the cables. The combination of tension in the cables and the rods form a thin, stiff and stable deck assembly. The Denver Millennium Bridge was the first cable stayed bridge in the world to use this post-tensioned structural concept.