Yankee Jims Bridge Replacement

Yankee Jims Bridge Replacement

The Placer County Department of Public Works, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation, proposes to replace the existing one lane suspension bridge (Bridge No. 19C-0002) that crosses over the North Fork of the American River. The Yankee Jims Project is located in an unincorporated area of Placer County, California over the North Fork of the American River, within the Auburn State Recreation Area. The Project is needed to improve access related to evacuation routes and emergency vehicles by constructing a new, structurally sound bridge with two-lanes and increased weight capacity. The purpose of the Project is to improve the roadway approach geometry at each end of the bridge and improve pedestrian access over the North Fork of the American River and the adjacent recreational facilities by replacing the existing bridge with a new two-lane bridge over the North Fork American River on Yankee Jims Road. The existing bridge was constructed in 1930 and is currently considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete by Caltrans Structures Maintenance and Investigations with a sufficiency rating of 0.0. The sufficiency rating assigned by Caltrans is a numeric value that indicates the sufficiency of a bridge to remain in service. Sufficiency Ratings range from zero to 100, with zero representing an entirely insufficient or deficient bridge. Yankee Jims Road is a vital transportation connection between the communities of Colfax and Foresthill. As one of only a few roads in and out of Foresthill, Yankee Jims Road provides a vital fire, life and safety evacuation route for the local community. However, with the current bridge load restriction and width limitations, emergency response vehicles must come from both Colfax and Foresthill areas when called, since access across the existing load restricted bridge is not feasible and the exact location of the emergency is often unknown. One build alternative is being considered for the bridge replacement; an arch suspension bridge located 10-15 feet downstream of the existing bridge. Additionally, the existing Yankee Jims Road Bridge would be strengthened to facilitate construction. The strengthened bridge would then remain in place as a historic structure. The total Project area encompasses approximately 133 acres including, approximately 7 miles of Yankee Jims Road leading up to the existing Yankee Jims bridge.

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