Dowd Road at Racoon Creek Bridge

Mark Thomas led the geometric designs and prepared preliminary and final plans and estimates for this Highway Bridge Program (HBP)-funded project. Dowd Road is a rural, two-lane road near Lincoln. The existing bridge was a single-lane structure that was 20-feet wide and 137-feet long. The existing bridge was a seven-span reinforced concrete, haunched slab supported on concrete pier walls, and abutments classified as Functionally Obsolete.

Our approach recognized that Raccoon Creek is under the jurisdiction of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB), which requires the replacement structure to meet more stringent hydraulic criteria. Due to the approach roadways flooding for hundreds of feet on both sides of the bridge during storm events, the County and Caltrans requested a variance to the CVFPB criteria.

The replacement bridge is a two-span, prestressed concrete, voided slab bridge. The center pier is located outside of the ordinary water flow, minimizing impacts to the creek.