Setting out to replace the deteriorating Wolf Creek Bridge, the Quincy team faced several challenges—the design and construction had to consider the landscape of the stream channel and the area’s extreme weather conditions, from winter snow to high summer heat.
Nestled in the Sierra Nevada Range just south of Lake Tahoe in Alpine County, the original timber bridge was at the end of its service life. The goal of this federally funded project was to replace the original bridge at Wolf Creek—a 15-foot-wide and 30-foot-long single-span timber bridge—with a modern structure that meets current design standards.
January 30, 2020
Wolf Creek Bridge Project
The Quincy team, led by Jason Jurrens, kicked off the design phase of the project in June 2012. The final design for the bridge was a 68-foot-long, 25-foot-wide, cast-in-place, prestressed concrete slab. A vast upgrade from the original, the new bridge includes two 9-foot lanes, shoulders, and barrier rails compliant with current design standards. In June 2019, the construction phase began, which the team provided construction management services for, allowing them to oversee the process from inception to finished product.
Before the old bridge could be disassembled, the construction crew installed a temporary bridge to maintain access to the area and added a localized diversion under the watchful eye of the Lahontan Water Quality Control Board.
After constructing the abutments, the crew dismantled the old bridge.
Finally, in December 2019, the construction of Wolf Creek Bridge, led by Quincy's Resident Engineer Leland Mason and Assistant Resident Engineer John Snyder, was complete and open for traffic. The new and much-improved bridge, as well as 700 feet of reconstructed Dixon Mine Road, provides access to the rugged Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.
The rock slope protection and single-span falsework was then installed, providing the structure for formwork
Once the formwork was in place, the crew poured the concrete