Camas gets grant to fix up bridge

The city of Camas received a little less than $2 million for seismic upgrades to the Third Avenue Bridge.

The grant is through the Federal Local Bridge Grant Program, which is administered locally by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The roughly 225-foot bridge carries four lanes of traffic over the Washougal River, said Steve Wall, Public Works director for the city.

The city completed a bridge load rating analysis and seismic evaluation in 2006, but wasn’t able to secure funds for a project to complete the recommended upgrades.

The current project will replace bearings between the deck and piers on which the bridge rests, and it will modify the end abutments, which are the structures at each end of the bridge.

The city’s anticipated schedule for the project is to begin design work by June and award a construction bid to a company by September 2019.

The grant will fully cover the upgrades to the bridge, just as long as those upgrades are authorized by December 2020. The city has a 13.5 percent match on design costs, which are expected to be around $500,000, Wall said. The entire project cost is approximately $2 million.

If the city doesn’t get construction set up in time, it will have to pay a 13.5 percent match for the project.