Asheville’s bridges to the future?

Self-described “presentation monkey” and city planner Joe Minicozzi offered members of the public a glimpse of the Asheville Design Center’s latest ideas for an I-26/I-240 bridge during an informal seminar July 9. Two dozen people attended the first showing of Minicozzi’s latest presentation, held at Pack Memorial Library’s Lord Auditorium, on how other cities have spanned their rivers with world-class structures.

Arty curves: The Linn Cove Viaduct, on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain, is one of the prize-winning designs by Figg Engineering, which is now looking at potential bridge designs for I-26/I-240. photo by Scott Lessing-Hubener

Minicozzi said that state transportation departments typically construct slab-and-pillar bridges, similar to the Smoky Park Bridge, unless pushed by citizens who demand something different. He likened the surface decoration sometimes added to such bridges as “putting lipstick on a pig,” and said that other states have often been surprised to discover that more elegant designs can achieve results that are cheaper over time, because innovative engineering can result in lower maintenance costs.

The following day, Linda Figg of Figg Engineering Group offered a presentation to members of ADC and invited community leaders. Figg’s company specializes in bridge design and has garnered three of the five Presidential Awards for bridge design ever awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The winning designs are the Sunshine Skyway in Florida, the Natchez Trace Parkway Arches in Tennessee and the Linn Cove Viaduct in North Carolina.

(Completed in 1983 at a cost of almost $10 million, the Linn Cove Viaduct is considered to be the most complicated segmental concrete bridge ever built. The Blue Ridge Parkway’s plans included a section that wound around Grandfather Mountain, through a major wildlife corridor. Planners wanted to keep animals and vehicles out of each other’s way and keep tree cutting to an absolute minimum. The bridge is almost 1,250 feet long and composed of 153 precast segments—no two of which are identical and only one of which is straight.)

Following the ADC meeting, Figg met with Mayor Terry Bellamy, City Manager Gary Jackson and City Council member Brownie Newman. “I hope that we will be able to get their help, or the help of a firm like theirs, to analyze the concepts developed by the Design Center,” Newman said afterwards. “One of the interesting things they pointed out is that these beautiful, elegant bridges do not necessarily cost more to build because they typically require much less construction material. The use of suspension techniques spreads the weight in a manner that requires less overall materials, which also makes them more environmentally friendly.”

The ADC has proposed a simpler, smaller solution to the pending remodel of the I-26 Connector through Asheville. While the state DOT plan calls for nine bridges, the ADC suggests only four, including a double-decker span for the confluence of I-240 and I-26. There are no double-decked bridges in North Carolina at present, according to Minicozzi, and when DOT responded, somewhat skeptically, to the ADC’s design at a June 27 City Council session, their drawing for a double bridge entailed stacking one slab-and-pillar bridge on top of another. Minicozzi’s presentation included the DOT drawings, which depict a massive structure including 20-foot-thick supports beneath the upper span. But photos of other bridges in Minicozzi’s presentation showed double spans from around the world that used less material and create graceful arches and curves.

Moreover, Minicozzi asserted that such bridges can enhance property values in homes and offices that enjoy a view of the structures, as well as become signature pieces for cities, as they have from Charleston to Toledo to San Francisco.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Cecil Bothwell
A writer for Mountain Xpress since three years before there WAS an MX--back in the days of GreenLine. Former managing editor of the paper, founding editor of the Warren Wilson College environmental journal, Heartstone, member of the national editorial board of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, publisher of Brave Ulysses Books, radio host of "Blows Against the Empire" on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM, co-author of the best selling guide Finding your way in Asheville. Lives with three cats, macs and cacti. His other car is a canoe. Paints, plays music and for the past five years has been researching and soon to publish a critical biography--Billy Graham: Prince of War:

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “Asheville’s bridges to the future?

  1. Bruce

    By the time they get this built, there will be 9 more mayors, and they will have paid for the project 7 times over paying consultants that tell the they need a consultant. Kinda like the 19 times they’ve paid consultants to tell them that the civic center is old. Good Ol Asheville, were noting gets done but a whole lot of yappin. Keep yappin City Council, that’s all you ever do.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.