Washington Plaza

Cemetery Lane

Open Space Trail Bridges

Basalt-Willits Trail Bridge

Ford Park Bridge

Eckstrand Memorial Bridge

Vail Covered Bridge

Lefthand Creek Greenway

  

 

 

 

Projects - Infrastructures
 Trails and Paths: Pedestrian Bridges

Ford Park Bridges
Vail, Colorado

Ford Park, located on the east side of Vail, is named after President Gerald Ford and includes the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. LORIS designed two pedestrian bridges in this high-profile park. The first one included modifications to an existing covered bridge that did not meet ADA requirements, but needed to, when Ford Park was slated to be the site of the opening ceremonies for the World Skiing Championships in 2000. Since the site was inaccessible to cranes, LORIS devised a plan to jack the bridge up in its existing location and modify the abutments to raise the bridge bearings almost three feet. ADA acceptable approaches were reconstructed to the new bridge elevation.

The second bridge was a replacement for an existing bridge that provided access to the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, which was undergoing a major renovation to attract tourists. The existing pedestrian bridge was structurally deficient, and required upgrading. LORIS performed a bridge type and aesthetic study to present various options to the Town of Vail approval. The Town selected a simple, yet elegant, timber bridge with stone pilasters and retaining walls at the abutments.

Client:  Town of Vail

 
     

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