Gruene Bridge demolition begins this week
Half of the Gruene Bridge over the Guadalupe River is set to be demolished in the coming week.
Assistant Area Engineer Michelle Kopp of the Texas Department of Transportation said contractors are scheduled to start cutting out and removing sections of the bridge by Tuesday. The first phase of bridge replacement involves removing half the bridge on the Rockin’ R side of the river.
TxDOT awarded the $2.3 million contract to Austin Bridge and Road to build the off-system Gruene Bridge, which will become city of New Braunfels property when complete. The new structure will be several feet higher and wider than the existing structure, which is submerged when water is released from Canyon Lake at more than 3,000 cubic feet per second.
A temporary dam was erected a few yards upstream of the existing structure to divert the Guadalupe River around the construction area where crews will need dry ground to dig and set piles for the bridge.
According to Kopp, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority reduced river flow to facilitate the temporary dam’s installation. Normal river flow in that area of the Guadalupe River is about 500 to 600 cubic feet per second.
The dam is a braced system with plastic sheeting held down by sandbags to hold back the river water. It juts a couple of feet out of the water line.
How much water can the dam hold? “At this point, we don’t know,” Kopp said. “On Sunday, it was 300 cubic feet per second.”
When the first phase of construction is complete, the dam will be moved to the Gruene side of the river and the process will be repeated to construct the second side.
Everything is on schedule so far, Kopp said. Favorable weather conditions are needed for construction. Especially cold weather could delay concrete pours, which require specific temperature ranges.
“If it stays dry, we think we’ll make Memorial Day,” Kopp said.
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