Work wraps up on Birmingham's Baldwin Bridge

metromode, 11/5/2009

Cars, bikes, and pedestrians can cross the Baldwin Avenue Bridge now that construction workers have wrapped up work on replacing it.

The city of Birmingham began work on the bridge in early August as part of a project to improve three other spans, including the West Maple Road, Oak Street, and Lakeside Drive North bridges. The Baldwin Bridge was the biggest project of the lot, clocking in at $700,000 and finishing on schedule.

The bridge, just northwest of downtown Birmingham, dates back to the 1920s and has been showing decades' worth of wear and tear for years. The city did away with the narrow, one-lane bridge, replacing it with something more pedestrian and motorist friendly.

The new span features two lanes and a 5-foot-wide sidewalk. The historic arch with a stone-cut façade underneath has been recreated, a process the city has also done with four other bridge replacements.

Source: City of Birmingham
Writer: Jon Zemke

Birmingham