Grand Avenue Bridges
Glenwood Springs, CO
Glenwood Springs gets its name from a natural hot spring beside the Colorado River at the foot of Glenwood Canyon. In the late 19th century a spa was built around the spring, centered on a huge pool fed by the spring (upper left above). A mainline of the Union Pacific Railroad and Interstate 70 bisect the town. Grand Avenue connects Interstate 70 (lower left) through the downtown and southward to Aspen and the rest of southwestern Colorado.
At its south end the new vehicular bridge enters downtown right down the center of Grand Avenue (left center), as did the previous bridge, leaving barely 20 feet of clearance to the 19th century retail buildings on either side. A separate pedestrian bridge (center right) connects downtown Glenwood to the spa and its associated hotels, but ends at 7th St. because there is not enough space between the historic buildings for both Grand Avenue and the pedestrian bridge.
The pedestrian bridge uses 2 steel box girders to cross the railroad, river, Interstate 70 and the spa’s parking lots. The space between the boxes carries several major utility lines. The pier columns are faced with “peachblend” sandstone, a traditional material in Glenwood Springs used for the spa buildings (above) and the historic railroad station.
Periodic pavilions along the pedestrian bridge mark particular locations where users can stop to observe particular attractions, such as kayakers on the Colorado River.
One such attraction is the spa’s huge pool, giving users bound to the spa a preview of their destination and all of the water activities taking place there while tying the bridge to Glenwood’s history.
A new elevator tower and staircase at the intersection of Grand Avenue and 7th Street provide pedestrians and bicyclists access to the new pedestrian bridge while serving as a gateway to downtown for those arriving from the north side of the river.
The curved vehicular bridge uses 3 steel box girders to cross 7th St., the railroad, the river, Interstate 70 and the spa’s parking lots. The simplicity of the box girder system keeps the views below light & transparent for the thousands of people on the railroad station platform, Interstate 70, and the parking lots.
As the vehicular bridge crosses 7th Street, its whole nature changes. It becomes the ceiling of an outdoor room accommodating the sidewalk life of downtown Glenwood Springs. At its south abutment the vertical clearance above the sidewalk shrinks to barely 7 feet. To accommodate this change the structure changes to a 3’ thick concrete slab. This leaves sufficient headroom for public activities under the bridge.
On a warm summer evening Glenwood restaurant patrons on the sidewalks and under the bridge enjoy quiet conversations over dinner while four lanes of Grand Avenue traffic pass overhead. The mass of the 3 foot thick concrete slab shields users from the noise and vibration of traffic passing directly above.
