The City Council has approved replacing the glass on the Holmberg Bridge with metal grating.The damage-prone, glass-paneled Holmberg Bridge will get a stainless steel makeover in the near future.
The $1.6 million pedestrian bridge, opened in 2005, spans Riverfront Parkway to connect Walnut Street to the Bluff View Art District. A year ago, Chattanooga's public works department estimated it spent $10,000-$20,000 a year to replace cracked glass panels on the bridge.
The Chattanooga City Council recently approved an $88,271 bid by Ross Glass & Aluminum to replace a dozen of the bridge's 86 glass deck panels with slip-resistant stainless steel grate panels.
"It's a multi-phase replacement, so after these first 12 panels are replaced with the stainless steel, another bid process will be needed to replace the remaining panels as funding is available," city spokeswoman Marissa Bell said in an email.
The first stage will be to replace six panels, some of which are uniquely shaped, at each end of the bridge, Bell said.
The city will conduct a pre-construction meeting with the contractor after Christmas to establish a replacement schedule for the bridge ends, she said.
In a recent meeting, Public Works Administrator Justin Holland told City Council members the remainder of the capital project will take place over one or more years.
He described the project as a cost-effective solution, noting each glass panel replacement costs $4,000 in materials and labor. The city has replaced 51 panels since 2009, Holland said.
Public Works reached out to the bridge's architect, area residents and the Holmberg family before deciding on the stainless steel solution, Holland said. The pedestrian bridge is named in honor of Ruth S. and A. William Holmberg, former leaders of The Chattanooga Times newspaper and generous supporters of the arts.
BREAKING THE BRIDGE
Chattanooga's public works department has looked for an alternative to continually replacing broken glass panels on the bridge since 2013. At the time, the department hoped to replace the glass with another transparent material.
The decision to use stainless steel grates came after a two-year investigation involving a University of Tennessee materials analyst and other experts across the country, Holland said.
"We found glass bridges, outdoor observation decks and similarly situated materials are just prone to break," Holland said. "They're not intended for outdoor applications. There are several of them around the world, but many of them have similar issues."
Holland blamed weather and wear and tear for the frequent repairs. Each panel consists of three layers, and the middle layer tends to be the one that breaks, he said.
There also have been reports of damage to panels from vandals, skateboarders and cyclists over the years, prompting the city to install extra security cameras near the bridge in 2007.
Signs on either end of the bridge ask people to walk bicycles across the bridge.
On Friday afternoon, no cyclists or skateboarders sped across the windswept bridge. Occasional pedestrians on foot made the journey over the bustling vehicle traffic below, the glass panels occasionally creaking with their footfalls.
Bluff View area resident Jeff Holland, who is not related to the public works administrator, said he suspects kids performing bike stunts play in role in damaging the bridge.
"I've seen kids going up on their bicycles and hopping and stuff," Holland said. "The next time I come by, the glass is all cracked and everything."
Holland said he thought it was a good idea to install durable stainless steel grates in light of the high cost of continually replacing the glass panels.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.