Principal Riverwalk

[Better Life dude]

I keep tracking the progress of the Center Street bridge. It looks more and more like it will be finished this fall. Here, have a look: http://www.1digitalserver.com/armory/

I drove down there last evening and parked next to the arena, and then walked down to the western side of the bridge. Sorry, I don't have a camera - and nobody has yet to post on this website a good shot of the bridge fro the west bank. Anyway, the western side is almost finished. The only thing left to do is pave about 50 feet of sidewalk from the sidewalk on Grand Ave to the bridge itself. All the grading is finished.

On the bridge deck, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the railing has been installed on both sides and that looks like it will be done in the next week or so. On the east side, i don't know what yet needs to be done, but it looks to be be more complex than simply dirt and sidewalk work.

The temporary supports and pilings in the river are steadily disappearing - like taking apart Lego building blocks. Hopefully by the end of October we'll have word on an opening date for this project. That would be nice.

[DMRyan]

I still have my doubts that this project will be entirely completed by this fall. That approach on the east side of the river is sitting in the air right now. The parking lot by the Armory Building will have to be reconstructed, with grading work to allow for the trail connection to the bridge. They still have to repaint the thing after all of the work, and put up lighting too. It would be nice to get on the bridge for an unofficial ceremony, but we're down to the wire to get it open within the next two months. It may not look like there's much left to do, but completing the east approach and building flood walls is no short task.

[Better Life dude]

I still have my doubts that this project will be entirely completed by this fall. That approach on the east side of the river is sitting in the air right now. The parking lot by the Armory Building will have to be reconstructed, with grading work to allow for the trail connection to the bridge. They still have to repaint the thing after all of the work, and put up lighting too. It would be nice to get on the bridge for an unofficial ceremony, but we're down to the wire to get it open within the next two months. It may not look like there's much left to do, but completing the east approach and building flood walls is no short task.

Bummer.

[Ex-Chicago]

According to KCCI news, the bridge is being repainted and will open by Thanksgiving.

Also, they say that north of there (up by WFA), there will be a mountain biking area, and the largest skate park in the U.S. (to be built with private funds).

[hawk61401]

According to KCCI news, the bridge is being repainted and will open by Thanksgiving.

Also, they say that north of there (up by WFA), there will be a mountain biking area, and the largest skate park in the U.S. (to be built with private funds).

No mention about if the lighting will be completed too. I assume it will be.

http://www.kcci.com/news/21344041/detail.html


and more about the lighting .. http://www.dmoed.org/udrb/UDR_CSB_Narrative_5-30-06.pdf

[DMRyan]

That new paint job underway is already really starting to hide the construction dings and rust stains from the temporary supports.

I'm hoping for the best, but didn't the KCCI story say the bridge would be completed, not opened by the end of November?

[Ex-Chicago]

I'm hoping for the best, but didn't the KCCI story say the bridge would be completed, not opened by the end of November?

I'm not sure if this exactly matches the story on the 10 o'clock news last night, but their website story says open by Thanksgiving.

Des Moines newest downtown landmark should be open by Thanksgiving.

[DMRyan]

The bridge is really gleaming with it's fresh coat of paint on it and the east approach is coming together. I still think there's no way this thing opens by the end of this month, but again, I'd love to proven wrong on this issue. It would be nice to have it lit over the winter.

[wmjindsm]

The City of Des Moines newsletter that came out yesterday said that the bridge would be open next year.

(it's the continued part on page 4)
http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departme ... ber_09.pdf

[Better Life dude]

The City of Des Moines newsletter that came out yesterday said that the bridge would be open next year.

(it's the continued part on page 4)
http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departme ... ber_09.pdf

I read that too. At this point, with winter a few weeks away...I'm ok if it opens next spring. As long as the workers keep plugging away as much as they can over the winter.

[hawk61401]

don't look down: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21655952@N ... 6/sizes/l/

[DMRyan]

I noticed that they were testing some of the lighting on the ped bridge tonight. While the arch wasn't lit, the bridge deck was a wash in a bright LED light that almost had a blue tint when viewed at a distance. This thing is going to be pretty dramatic at night, but we already knew that.

[JMsioux]

don't look down: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21655952@N ... 6/sizes/l/

Somewhere, in a box in my garage, I have a picture of my house that I took from the top of a 425' communications tower on the edge of Sioux City. At the time, two co-workers and I were doing some moonlighting by doing tower work on the weekends and it was before four back surgeries and five major knee operations, of course. If I could find it, I would post it here for a "don't look down" moment.

[MrMafia]

I noticed that they were testing some of the lighting on the ped bridge tonight. While the arch wasn't lit, the bridge deck was a wash in a bright LED light that almost had a blue tint when viewed at a distance. This thing is going to be pretty dramatic at night, but we already knew that.

No pictures = FAIL

[DMRyan]

I noticed that they were testing some of the lighting on the ped bridge tonight. While the arch wasn't lit, the bridge deck was a wash in a bright LED light that almost had a blue tint when viewed at a distance. This thing is going to be pretty dramatic at night, but we already knew that.

No pictures = FAIL

Agreed, it has been a fail late this fall.


We got one guy that's opened his new business and the other guy that's been busy selling a house/moving, which has equaled not much work on this site. Hopefully things settle somewhat back to normal and we can get some photos, weather permitting.

[hawk61401]

thanks to Don3rdSE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/don3rdse/4 ... 713244208/

Too bad we couldn't have something dramatic like the official lighting before Christmas or Christmas Eve.

Ryan, these the LED lights you were talking about?

[Better Life dude]

If you go right now (Wednesday morning) to http://www.1digitalserver.com/armory/ there's a web cam image of how the bridge lighting looked before sunrise today. The eastern half of the decking is lit up with up lights. I suppose the western half the electricians are still working on. If you click on the smaller image, it will enlarge it. You can also go back in time by hitting the rewind arrows at the bottom of the image.

^^^^^^^^^^Hawk is showing it on the post above. LOL.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[hawk61401]

This is going to be hotter than I thought it was going to be.

[MrMafia]

I say we have a AbsoluteDSM meet and greet at the bridge!! Anyone else game?

[Better Life dude]

I say we have a AbsoluteDSM meet and greet at the bridge!! Anyone else game?

We could meet in the middle of the night after closing time in the East Village and jump the construction fence at the end of the bridge and then hang a banner off the center of the bridge - right above the dam - that says "www.absolutedsm.com". We'll then run to our cars and speed away into the rainy night. Mulder can take pictures of the whole thing and post it on his website.

I'm game. When should we do it?

[hawk61401]

I say we have a AbsoluteDSM meet and greet at the bridge!! Anyone else game?

We could meet in the middle of the night after closing time in the East Village and jump the construction fence at the end of the bridge and then hang a banner off the center of the bridge - right above the dam - that says "www.absolutedsm.com". We'll then run to our cars and speed away into the rainy night. Mulder can take pictures of the whole thing and post it on his website.

I'm game. When should we do it?

oooh great idea!! Can we run to our cars and speed away like they did at The Sky Bridge in Davenport?

[Better Life dude]

Here it is all lit up. What does everyone think?

[Des Moineser]

It's stunning. That is an awesome looking bridge!

[DMRyan]

I'm still trying to get a better look at the multi-colored lights in the glass span pathway connecting the two trail segments, but I'm impressed so far. The only critique is that I thought the spotlights highlighting the main arch and cables on the bridge would be a little brighter. I love the LED lighting on what appears to be the base of the bridge rail. That was an unexpected touch.

[hawk61401]

It's about as close to perfection as you can get. I don't know how the designers could have done a better job. For the location, it's a beautiful fit. The lighting turns it into a shining jewell.

For the city of Des Moines , it's a beautiful, classy, 21st century iconic bridge. You've got to feel the pride of how far our city has progressed in such a short time.

[Better Life dude]

This bridge has a wow factor. Our family gets down to the Brenton ice skating rink a lot lately it seems (we got season skating passes) and I can tell you that the bridge looks stunning when you see it with the rink and the Christmas tree display at the end of the rink, Wells Fargo arena in the background and the Asian pagoda down the river bank. To think none of these things were there just a few short years ago.

[DMRyan]

After our temporary peep show of the what the new lights on the ped bridge will look like, the powers that be must be waiting for a grand opening next spring to permanently show off the new look. I haven't seen the lights on since their test run.

In other riverwalk news, it appears that some small work has started on the west side of the river with flood wall construction. With the exception of today, the Brenton Skating Plaza just hasn't seen the same crowds this year, no doubt attributed to one awful month of weather.

[MrMafia]

I think the ice skating will pick up once its a little warmer. Holidays are over and people are bored what better to do in the cold than ice skating?

I would really really like to see the lights on the bridge stay on! Not to mention 801..... I know PFG has money issues now but leaving the lights off most of the time is like having a Ferrari and only washing it once every three months..... its just not right.

[Better Life dude]

Here's some pictures of the Center Street pedestrian/bike bridge I took today. This is a very photogenic bridge. Enjoy!











From the entrance on the west bank:

From the west bank:

Looking east from the sidewalk on the southside of Wells Fargo Arena:

[DMRyan]

In the 5th photo down, you can see the tunnel that's been built to allow the trail along the riverwalk to pass under the bridge approach. Hopefully, the segment of trail from this bridge, south to Grand Avenue can be constructed on the west side of the river soon, otherwise it will be hard to make the most of the use of this bridge now.

The only other riverwalk progress to report over the winter is the construction of the floodwalls on the west side of the river near the YMCA and World Food Prize. Looking forward to real construction season, where hopefully the entire west side of the riverwalk will be underway.