Bridge for troubled waters

A new bridge near the mouth of the Sutter Bypass promises easier access for drivers — and less stress on the Sacramento River's aging levees in Sutter County's rural west.

County officials hope the Garmire Bridge, which replaces a one-lane span built in the 1930s, will open up a freer flow for the river at Tisdale Weir and ease pressure on a flood-control system awaiting major upgrades.

The county on Tuesday formally dedicated the 1,250-foot crossing, which opened in March. Covered mostly by federal funds, the bridge was completed last month at a cost of $8 million. The project came in at more than $800,000 under budget and eight months ahead of schedule, said Eric McGrath, senior engineer for the state Department of Water Resources.

Sited 10 miles south of Meridian, Garmire Bridge features a wider two-lane roadway, but state and county engineers say the real improvement lies beneath — in supporting piers spaced more than three times farther apart, 143 feet, than on the old span.

The wider gaps are expected to correct the former bridge's main failing — the tendency of its close-in piers to trap river debris and prevent water from spilling into the Sutter Bypass, a relief valve to prevent rising water from nearing flooding levels.

Combined with the growth of river vegetation over seven decades, the old piers had cut the flow to Tisdale Weir by as much as a third, according to Doug Gault, the county public works director.

Among the guests at Tuesday's dedication were students of the nearby Winship Elementary School, which flooded in 1997 after a levee broke along the bypass. Afterward, principal Katherine Anderson praised the project for improving flood resistance from Meridian to Robbins, but admitted only the bridge's first test of winter rains would put her fully at ease.

"I'll let you know next winter when the water is back up to the tippy top," said Anderson, one of two current staff members working at the school in 1997. "The last thing I wonder when I walk out the door is whether everything will still be here when I walk back in."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.