Creating a transportation alternative
The Stone Dam Creek Trail connects a thriving campus community with the City of Conway’s growing retail and residential areas, but the lack of safe options to cross an existing state highway posed a hazard for trail users.
The Dave Ward Drive Pedestrian Overpass not only presents bikers, joggers, and walkers with a safe route over a road traveled by more than 30,000 cars per day, but with a 100-foot steel truss span and 150-foot approach spans on each side, the bridge will serve as an iconic city landmark.
“We wanted to design a bridge that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional and safe,” said Transportation Project Manager Dustin Tackett. “The city made the financial commitment for such a design, and we wanted to unveil a product that makes users proud to live in Conway.”
To further enhance safety, LED light fixtures were installed into the vertical members of the bridge truss to properly light the path without interfering with traffic below. And because the trail is located in a floodplain, hydraulic modeling specified the bridge approach lengths so as not to raise the level of the base flood elevation.
Due to various funding sources, Garver coordinated with the Arkansas Department of Transportation, Metroplan, the city, and the University of Central Arkansas to enhance this growing trail network.
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