PORT ANGELES — Steel slant-leg bridges proposed to replace the wooden Eighth Street trestles across Valley and Tumwater creeks will be redesigned as concrete spans to lower costs, the City Council decided Tuesday night.
The city also will spend about $750,000 for design contractor Exeltech Consulting of Olympia to redesign the project.
Bids for the concrete bridges are expected to go out in December, putting the Eighth Street project to replace the tall 70-year-old spans back at least a year.
“I’ll let you know up front that I’m frustrated,” City Councilman Larry Williams said.
Instead of a modernistic, slant-leg metal design, the redesigned bridges will consist of five or six concrete spans with concrete piers in the two valleys.
The permitting process and public participation process also will be redone.
Bids for the metal bridges, estimated to cost $20 million, came back about 29 percent more in February, largely because of rising steel costs.