The vision of a safe and effective footbridge crossing Emmet Street and connecting Lambeth Commons with University Hall soon will become a reality.
The bridge will begin about halfway across the parking lot between U-Hall and Emmet Street. It will stretch across Emmet Street and through the woods next to the Panda Garden restaurant. The bridge ultimately will end somewhere near the service road behind Lambeth and the Colonnades.
The University awarded the bridge construction contract to Hammond-Mitchell Inc. of Covington, Va., in early March. As of March 3 the company had 30 days to begin work on the site.
Right now, everything is going according to schedule.
"After we do some preliminary things at the site in the next couple days, we will begin breaking ground in the next week or so," Hammond-Mitchell Inc. Project Manager John Quantz said.
Plans for the bridge have been in the works for 30 years, University Architect Pete Anderson said.
"It is nothing revolutionary, but instead evolutionary, in trying to connect North Grounds to the rest of the University," he said. "This is a transformational thing which will go a long ways toward the goal of re-creating one University."
The bridge is primarily intended for pedestrians, bikes and some service vehicles.
The bridge will span a total of about 350 feet with the usable width for pedestrians crossing the bridge totaling 16 feet.
If changes become necessary in the future, the bridge easily could be widened in order to accommodate additional transportation vehicles, according to documents provided by Asst. University Architect Connie Warnock.
In order to comply with strict budget constraints at the University, the architectural design of the bridge had to be basic.
"It is a very simple, straightforward, box girder design, not particularly decorative in any way," Warnock said.
A box girder design is necessary to support the massive 85-foot span crossing Emmet Street, according to David Sweet, senior project manager at University Facilities Management.
With the tight $3.2 million budget for the project, officials said they paid particular attention to safety concerns.
"This should improve safety a lot in the area," Sweet said. "Students will no longer need to run across the street dodging among the cars."
Early estimates anticipate the project will be complete by November 2003.
Initially, rumors circulated that the University might have to buy the Panda Garden restaurant to complete the project, but officials report the restaurant will remain intact.
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