(King County rendering of new South Park Bridge design)
Three months after government and community leaders gathered by the west end of the old South Park Bridge to announce funding was in place for a new one, another milestone – the project has gone out to bid. It was officially advertised today. The bidding documents list the “engineer’s estimate” cost at $98 million to $108 million, with this included:

Scope of Work: This project provides for the replacement of South Park Bridge over the Duwamish Waterway in King County by constructing a new drawbridge (bascule) downriver and approximately parallel to the existing South Park Bridge, intersection improvements, roadway, drainage, and utility construction, approach spans and retaining wall construction, riverbank mitigation, incorporation of historic and art elements, illumination with decorative luminaires, demolition of the remaining portion of the existing bridge, and other work …

Bids are to be opened March 8th.

(King County rendering of design for future South Park Bridge)
11:14 AM: Just got word that King County Executive Dow Constantine and U.S. Senator Patty Murray promise a big announcement at the South Park Bridge at 2:30 this afternoon. This is about when news was supposed to come in about whether a federal grant via TIGER II would be available for all or part of the rest of the money needed to build a new bridge. 11:23 AM: $34 million grant, per sources cited by seattlepi.com. 11:37 AM: More evidence that TIGER II announcements are coming out – found this East Coast story about a bridge-replacement project there getting $. And more here. 11:50 AM: The Seattle Times (WSB partner) is on the story too. 12:37 PM: News advisory from U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott‘s office says he’ll be there too. It’s been three and a half months since the old bridge was shut down for safety concerns. The county has called the replacement project “shovel-ready” but says it would still take about 2 years to build once all the money’s in. 1:20 PM UPDATE: The Times story is updated with confirmation of the $34 million, from Sen. Murray’s office.

(Photo by Jason Grotelueschen)

Two months and one day after the shutdown of the old South Park Bridge (WSB video coverage here), the first major part of the demolition work has begun – King County Department of Transportation confirms that one of its “leaves” (the actual drawbridge sections) will “be detached and lowered onto a barge sometime this afternoon.” The KCDOT announcement continues:

Prior to removal, nine steel cuts will be required to separate the leaf from the remainder of the bridge. Once the cuts have been made, the leaf will slowly be lowered onto the barge. This work is extremely complicated and may take a few hours to complete.

This process will be repeated when the second leaf is removed over the next few days. Both leaves will then be barged to another site for salvage and recycling.

During this first demolition phase, crews have also been demolishing vacant structures on county-owned property adjacent to the bridge to accommodate future construction staging. The work will set the stage for future construction of a new South Park Bridge when a funding package is in place.

UPDATE 4:40 PM: As of this afternoon there is still not a whole lot of movement as work progresses slowly. Jason Grotelueschen staked out the bridge this afternoon, reporting only an occasional drizzle and a few showers of sparks, as workers continued to make cuts in the steel. Here’s one more photo from Jason, with a closer view of workers on aerial lifts:

6:30 AM (Wed) UPDATE: According to eyewitness reports and the YourSouthPark newsgroup, the “South Park side of the bridge” was finally dismantled and lowered safely onto a barge below, at around 7 pm last night (see photos from SeattlePI.com). The other side of the bridge should be removed by later this week.

Six weeks after the South Park Bridge closed for good – by opening the drawbridge leaves and keeping them that way – demolition is about to begin, according to a news release from King County, though the leaves won’t be the first thing to go. Read on for details:Read More

(King County rendering of future South Park Bridge)
First – the Puget Sound Regional Council has just finalized its $15 million South Park Bridge replacement-funding pledge, bringing total commitments to $98 million of the needed $130 million, according to an announcement just sent by the county. (The recommended pledge was first reported two weeks ago.) Second – at last night’s Delridge District Council meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, City Council President Richard Conlin was asked by Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding how the city will rustle up the $15 million it recently pledged to the bridge-replacement project. Conlin replied that options included adding the money to what the city borrows, delaying some Bridging the Gap programs, or perhaps a car-tab fee of up to $20. ADDED 3:46 PM: In coverage of the PSRC vote, our partners at the Seattle Times also report that demolition of the now-out-of-service bridge’s drawspans is set to start next month.

Two transportation-funding notes out of Senator Patty Murray‘s office this afternoon: $21 million for RapidRide bus service, scheduled to officially begin in West Seattle in two years (though service increases are expected to start sooner), is now part of a bill that just made it out of a subcommittee and goes on to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. And the same bill, THUD for short (Transportation, Housing and Urban Development), now contains $3 million for the South Park Bridge replacement project; Murray says she’ll support the county’s upcoming application for the federal grant known as TIGER II, which could provide most if not all of the remaining $35+ million the bridge project needs.

If the Puget Sound Regional Council‘s executive committee agrees with the action that a council subgroup just took, the money committed to a replacement South Park Bridge – eight days after the old one shut down permanently – will be up to $95 million. Read on for the announcement just in from PSRC:Read More

(Previous WSB reports: #1 “as it happened” here, #2 with video here, #3 with photos here)

As our area wakes up to its first day with one less bridge – for at least a few years – Christopher Boffoli‘s video shows you what it was like to be there last night. This morning, a night for the history books is followed by a morning facing the practicalities of how to get around; TV traffic reporters are offering advice, as well as traffic-camera images like this one. The official “closure plan” has resulted in maps of how to get around the area – if you didn’t check them out before, here’s where to find them. Getting to South Park itself remains relatively quick and easy from south West Seattle, and the area will be working to market itself as a destination – a promotional brochure is one of the early steps. Meantime, the search for money to build the replacement bridge continues, with $80 million pledged, of the $130 million needed; the next major step is application for a federal grant that could bring in more than half the remaining amount. And small steps toward the project continue so that it will be ready to go when funded – next Tuesday, for example, the county conducts a public hearing on “right-of-way realignments” (official notices here).

(Photo by Kevin McClintic)
Around 8 o’clock Wednesday night, the South Park Bridge‘s final opening was also a severing of the physical tie to the other side of the Duwamish. “Half of Boeing came here for lunch,” Boeing employee Michael told WSB contributor Keri DeTore; Georgetown Community Council Chair Holly Krejci said: “Georgetown will miss the connection and solidarity with South Park.” SP resident John added, “Life just got a lot harder — we as a community can’t sustain these businesses. We have to make this (neighborhood) a destination — this is the best neighborhood I’ve ever lived in.”

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
But at least for the night, the concern about the years ahead without a bridge – even with funding for a new one starting to build up, it wouldn’t be done for at least three years – was eclipsed by the party atmosphere of the bridge wake, on the bridge and alongside it:

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
Classic old transit buses were the final vehicles to cross. Earlier – perhaps in homage to the bridge’s age (70) – other classic vehicles were seen:

(Photo by Kevin McClintic)
Meantime, more than a few elected officials came to South Park for the bridge sendoff, including Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, photographed talking with King County Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi:

(Photo by Keri DeTore)
The mayor told Keri: “We’ve worked to provide support to the local businesses and will work with the community. We have an interdepartmental team of police, fire, SDOT, neighborhood and economic groups to provide services to the broader community. We will do our share to work on the bridge replacement.” Similar vows have come from county elected officials like Councilmember Jan Drago, decked in a pink hat and pink boa – same color on the tulle that fluttered from the bridge as it went up:

(Photo by Tracy Record)
Though $80 million has been raised toward funding a new bridge, many are concerned about where the remaining $50 million will be found. South Park resident Betty had an idea: “Put single moms in charge of the funding — they’ll get it done!” Speaking of done, the end of bridge operations means the end of the line for bridge tenders here:

(Photo by Kevin McClintic)
One last round of photos – this is a Flickr grouping from the occasional contributor we refer to as Junior Member of the Team – he was part of the five-member WSB team covering the historic occasion:

And we also have a shot to add from the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) bridge memorial – customers were invited to help build a bridge:

The Feedback, of course, created what was pretty much the official shirt of the wake – everywhere you turned, someone was wearing the distinctive white-on-black shirt (as you can see in many of our photos).

Ahead: A video collection of highlights, plus “what’s next” for the bridge-replacement project and its neighbors.

(Our “as-it-happened” first report on tonight’s South Park Bridge closure can be seen here)

At the end of our “as it happened” first report on tonight’s South Park Bridge shutdown and wake, we added a clip showing the bridge’s final few minutes, right around 8 pm – siren sounding, bells clanging, gates going down, drawbridge coming up, then a toast, and a song. Now, some other moments to share – first, the top clip, the chant that broke out after South Park’s Bill Pease, using the loudspeaker from a deputy’s car, suggested a moment of silence. (This was from the mildly defiant crowd that refused to move as far back as authorities asked them to – in the end, they “won,” and got to watch the drawbridge-opening from just behind the striped gates.) Meantime, the final vehicles to cross were long-retired buses, brought back out for the occasion – part of our team was at the south end of the bridge as the barricades were moved just long enough for one to head up:

Next, more of the sounds of farewell: Members of the Northwest Junior Pipe Band played toward the end, up near the bridge-tender tower on the west side:

Also performing as a tribute to the bridge … Duwamish Tribe drummers:

Still more to come – video and photos. Even if you don’t have any particular sentiment regarding the South Park Bridge, this was quite the spectacle.