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Bridge project redesign likely
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| Chief structural engineer Ali Gharamti shows the Hamilton Community Development Coalition how a walking bridge over the Hamilton Slough will need to be redesigned. As a result, a change in building materials and more funding may be necessary. |
By Cindy Iutzi/Gate City Staff Writer
HAMILTON, Ill. - The Hamilton Community Development Coalition learned recently that its multi-year initiative to span the Hamilton Slough with a walking bridge has reached a redesign stage that may require a change in building materials and more funding.
Members also became aware of a national-level professional disc golf tournament that will be held in Hamilton in the fall of 2009.
The Hamilton Community Development Coalition met with Ali Gharamti, chief structural engineer for McClure Engineering, Macomb, Ill., who had studied the walking bridge plans drawn by the all-volunteer group.
Gharamti said that as the design stands, the walking bridge will not be structurally strong enough to support a full-length shingled roof that was added to the original plans. When covered with snow, the roof would become too heavy for the bridge.
“When I fed it into the computer, the layout failed,” Gharamti said. “It came in over the stress guidelines and had too much bounce and sway.
We have to be safe, and we have to be in compliance with the (state) code. We have to change the depth of the bridge. This skinny of a bridge isn't going to work.”
Gharamti recommended the bridge be built with trusses, which HCDC members decided would work, after disagreeing on aesthetic grounds and then contemplating a redesign using the top of the trusses as part of the handrails.
HCDC President Roger MacDermott, head of the walking bridge project, said the group wants to work with materials it already has on hand as much as possible.
Metal fabricator Brian Guedesse suggested metal-plating the steel I-beams HCDC already owns to achieve the sturdiness Gharamti requires, making it possible to use materials the group already owns.
McClure Engineer Eric Moe asked if putting the trusses as low as the handrail would affect the bridge during floods, but Gharamti thought not.
“When we design a truss, it's going to work,” Gharamti said. “Give me some leeway to make some of the beams thicker.”
“We're going to have to buy more material,” MacDermott said.
Guedesse said he would draw up a list of used I-beams in the area to try and help HCDC save on the purchase price of new steel for trusses if that becomes necessary.
Gharamti's design review involved the part of the bridge that spans the deepest part of the slough, but nothing on each end beyond the slough.
MacDermott requested that Gharamti study the plans for the entire bridge and change the new design to something Gharamti could approve.
The bridge must meet code before the city can have the structure included in its insurance coverage.
“The Professional Disc Golfing Association has asked if we can hold a super-tour event,” MacDermott said. “I told them we could.
“There are 30 super-tournaments every year in the United States and being asked to host a tour is a great tourism opportunity,” MacDermott said.
The tournament will be Sept. 26-27, 2009, at Wildcat Springs Park in Hamilton and Rand Park in Keokuk.
MacDermott spoke with Keokuk Mayor David Gudgel and reserved the Rand Park disc golf course for those two days.
“The super-tournament is like a NASCAR event,” MacDermott said. “Professionals have to show up to get points. It's one of the biggest disc golf events in the country.”
He estimates the tournament will attract 140-150 disc golf professionals.
Recreational and intermediate participants will start on the Rand Park course and finish at Wildcat Springs. Professionals will start at Wildcat and finish on the Rand Park course.
Registration will take place at Wildcat and more camping spaces will be identified for participants.
“We've been working on getting bigger and better, and now here we are,” MacDermott said.
The citywide garage sales and Geodefest would take place the same weekend.
Members also became aware of a national-level professional disc golf tournament that will be held in Hamilton in the fall of 2009.
The Hamilton Community Development Coalition met with Ali Gharamti, chief structural engineer for McClure Engineering, Macomb, Ill., who had studied the walking bridge plans drawn by the all-volunteer group.
Gharamti said that as the design stands, the walking bridge will not be structurally strong enough to support a full-length shingled roof that was added to the original plans. When covered with snow, the roof would become too heavy for the bridge.
“When I fed it into the computer, the layout failed,” Gharamti said. “It came in over the stress guidelines and had too much bounce and sway.
We have to be safe, and we have to be in compliance with the (state) code. We have to change the depth of the bridge. This skinny of a bridge isn't going to work.”
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HCDC President Roger MacDermott, head of the walking bridge project, said the group wants to work with materials it already has on hand as much as possible.
Metal fabricator Brian Guedesse suggested metal-plating the steel I-beams HCDC already owns to achieve the sturdiness Gharamti requires, making it possible to use materials the group already owns.
McClure Engineer Eric Moe asked if putting the trusses as low as the handrail would affect the bridge during floods, but Gharamti thought not.
“When we design a truss, it's going to work,” Gharamti said. “Give me some leeway to make some of the beams thicker.”
“We're going to have to buy more material,” MacDermott said.
Guedesse said he would draw up a list of used I-beams in the area to try and help HCDC save on the purchase price of new steel for trusses if that becomes necessary.
Gharamti's design review involved the part of the bridge that spans the deepest part of the slough, but nothing on each end beyond the slough.
MacDermott requested that Gharamti study the plans for the entire bridge and change the new design to something Gharamti could approve.
The bridge must meet code before the city can have the structure included in its insurance coverage.
“The Professional Disc Golfing Association has asked if we can hold a super-tour event,” MacDermott said. “I told them we could.
“There are 30 super-tournaments every year in the United States and being asked to host a tour is a great tourism opportunity,” MacDermott said.
The tournament will be Sept. 26-27, 2009, at Wildcat Springs Park in Hamilton and Rand Park in Keokuk.
MacDermott spoke with Keokuk Mayor David Gudgel and reserved the Rand Park disc golf course for those two days.
“The super-tournament is like a NASCAR event,” MacDermott said. “Professionals have to show up to get points. It's one of the biggest disc golf events in the country.”
He estimates the tournament will attract 140-150 disc golf professionals.
Recreational and intermediate participants will start on the Rand Park course and finish at Wildcat Springs. Professionals will start at Wildcat and finish on the Rand Park course.
Registration will take place at Wildcat and more camping spaces will be identified for participants.
“We've been working on getting bigger and better, and now here we are,” MacDermott said.
The citywide garage sales and Geodefest would take place the same weekend.
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