new bridge replacement construction set for el paso county

Plans are underway for the construction of a new bridge in a residential section of southeast El Paso that will span the more than century-old Franklin Canal.

The County of El Paso has issued a Request for Proposals for a general engineering contractor to replace the Davis Drive Bridge, which was built in 1965 and accommodates traffic going in both directions.

That 1.1-meter length structure is one of several small bridges crossing the Franklin Canal, which was originally completed in 1891 and flows for just over 30 miles along the Rio Grande.

The canal was the first large irrigation project built near the river in metro El Paso and is designated as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The Davis Drive Bridge project will additionally include the building of new approaching roadways, as well as concrete curbs and gutters, sidewalks, and landscape rock ground cover.

Also included: an aesthetic pedestrian railing attached to the bridge on both sides of the structure. The utility work aspect of the project will see the moving of an existing water main to the underside of the bridge.
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The RFP has a submission deadline of August 12.

​By Garry Boulard

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