Yellowstone National Park with its thermal geysers, mud pots and abundant wildlife is different from anywhere else on Earth, so it makes sense that the construction in this jewel in the United States National Park system comes with its own set of unique challenges.
Since the spring of 2023, work has been underway to replace the Yellowstone River Bridge near the Tower junction, at the north corner -east of the park. Despite the challenges ranging from bears, bison and topography to a construction site with a land heated by geothermal activity along with hot sources and gas openings, the construction of the $ 120 million bridge enters its final stages this summer and is expected to open in the fall. When climbing 180 feet on the river gorge, the four-species steel plate bridge will replace the existing structure, built in 1961 and is only 700 feet southeast.
In addition to replacing an aged bridge, the new crossing of the river will provide visitors with breathtaking views over the riverbed and the surrounding ground.
Photo courtesy of the United States Service of the National Park
The project’s work has been carried out in phases due to the limited construction season of the park, usually duration from April to October. According to the Federal Division of the West Federal Lands (WFL) of the Federal Road Administration, the scope of the project includes the construction of the bridge, the demolition and elimination of the old bridge, the rearrangement of approximately one mile of the northeastern entrance road, new shots and head parking, restoration of the shore area with native plants and installation of a fish barrier. The rearrangement of the road will allow the restoration of Lost Creek near its original channel, and the surroundings will be restored to “conditions before 1960”, according to the WFL.
Daniel Rhodes, a landscape architect of the National Park Service (in yellow vest) and an unidentified worker located below the roof of the current Yellowstone River Bridge, built in 1961. It will be demolished after the new bridge. Wheel will oversee the restoration of the area at the end of the construction.
Photo courtesy of the United States Service of the National Park
Jacob Kihm, head of the HK contractor project based on Idaho Falls, the main contractor of the bridge replacement project, says the completion is scheduled for 2026.
The current bridge has little space for pedestrians or cyclists and shows signs of wear and tear of decades of extreme climate and intense use.
Photo courtesy of the United States Service of the National Park
New bridge in New Heights
The bridge, designed by Jacobs Engineering Group, based in Dallas, is marked taller and longer than it replaces. In addition to its 180 -foot height, the new bridge covers 1,285 feet with beams resting on three concrete pillars. The existing bridge covers only 604 feet and, lower in the barrel, goes about 70 feet over the river with embraced on both sides.
According to the information of Jacobs and HK contractors, the new location and height allow the bridge roof to be at the grade level with the upper part of the barrel, offering better views for visitors, less excavation and improvement of safety by eliminating the strong approaches of the old bridge that can become more dangerous in winter. The bridge is one of the few in the park open to the public throughout the year and provides a link to the Lamar Valley and Cooke City of Montana.
“We had to have a liquid cooling system for concrete and control the temperature to ensure that we were successful.”
—Jon Lowe, project manager, Ralph L. Wadsworth
It will have two lanes, a pedestrian sidewalk and will carry a fiber -optic line.
The area’s geothermal and hydrothermal activity presents another unusual challenge, says Jon Lowe, Draper’s project manager, Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction, the bridge’s construction and concrete concrete subcontractor.
“For the feet, we had to have a system of fluid cooling for concrete and control the temperature to ensure that it was properly cured,” he says. Foot construction required a single concrete resistant to sulfates and workers carry air control devices to measure hydrogen sulfide levels in the area.
“You have people who work in Serious Heights. We want to ensure that everyone is safe,” he adds.
Lowe says working at the remote location requires a plant for concrete lots for about 15 minutes in a place where the team also stores excavated material for reuse.
While the plant for lots will supply concrete to finish the roof of the bridge, other concrete elements of the bridge are prefabricated and sent to the place.
These elements include the three pillars, the highest of 160 feet, which are built with stacked prefabricated sections that are post-tenses and waterproof. Lowe says the RLW team suggested the use of prefabricated panels for bridge roof.
With the pillars reaching 160 feet, the Yellowstone River Bridge is at the level with the upper part of the barrel, eliminating the supplies to the old bridge and offering picturesque views of the area.
Foto courtesy Ralph L. Wadsworth
“We use them a lot in Utah and Colorado, but we had to approve the federal road administration to use them. Originally they were designed for metal pans. This was a three or four months review process, but it would save time and money at the end,” he says.
The 65 steel beams, up to 15 feet high and 100 feet long, were made by Utah Pacific in Lindon, Utah. Lowe, according to Lowe, transporting them must be transported an additional planning.
“We wanted to deliver all the beams at the same time because we knew, logistically, it would be a pain,” says Lowe. The team had to deal with tourist traffic and the fact that the Madison River Bridge, West Yellowstone’s main access point, was unusable because it had a damaged section.
The steel was delivered through a slightly longer route over Dunraven Pass, the highest mountain pass of the Grand Loop Road of the park at 8,878 feet.
Lowe says that the team has found other ways to take a long time due to the logistics challenges of the project, which, in addition to the bear or the random bison, have included the complicated delivery and placement of an 825 tonne crane.
The nearly 600 prefabricated panels of the Plumb Creek structures in Littleton, Colo.
“Normally do not start placing the panels on the roof until all beams are in place,” says Lowe. “Our internal engineers analyzed the deviation limits we could have in different extensions and found where we could start installing the panels before all beams were complete.”
The team completed the placement of the beam in early May and began to place the prefabricated panels, with the plans to start pouring concrete in June. “We are pushing for this November opening date,” he says.
The construction team has saved time and money with the use of prefabricated concrete panels for the bridge roof. The panels can be ended with concrete for the surface of the finished road.
Photo courtesy of the United States Service of the National Park
In addition to the quality of the air, the team must control the quality of the water in the river and make reports to the Environmental Quality Department and the Agency for Environmental Protection.
“And we are preparing for tourist traffic,” says Kihm.
Yellowstone receives about 4.5 to 5 million visitors each year, with a maximum volume of about 30,000 newspapers during the summer months, according to data from the National Park service. The return of tourists also means moving construction workers who had been housed in nearby hotels. “The contracts we had with the hotels ended in May. The western federal lands have provided some campsites nearby. We have 35 trailers that we will move once the snow is erased,” says Lowe. “We will probably have about 50 people once we meet in the summer, some in the camp and some in a hotel.”
The spring snow crumb means that bears also wake up and have seen them walk near the place. “Adding a bear spray can to the tool belt usually does not think about what to think, but it is something else we have to do here,” adds Lowe.
“We are also on a bison migration route,” says Kihm. “Access to our place is outside the old road and the existing bridge, so sometimes we have to stop our transport and traffic because there is a herd of bison that wants to cross.”
