5938 Chamber Creek Bridge Replacement

Pierce County Planning & Public Works – Office of the County Engineer Division (County) solicits interest from consulting firms with expertise in Civil and Structural Engineering Design. This agreement will be for approximately two years in duration, beginning September 2026 and ending September 2028, with the option for the County to extend it for additional time and money if necessary.

The project is estimated to be between 6 and 8.5 Million.

The existing Chambers Creek Bridge #29202-A was built in 1946 and crosses over Chambers Creek on Chambers Creek Road West connecting the Town of Steilacoom and the City of University Place. The 65-foot long, 22-foot-wide bridge consists of four concrete-slab spans supported by twelve timber piles, with abutments reinforced by timber sheet piles. The existing facility has minimal shoulder widths, no pedestrian facilities and an FHWA Overall Condition Classification – Fair. The roadway classification for Chambers Creek Road is Secondary Arterial with a 2019 ADT of 7275.

The replacement of the Chambers Creek Bridge is an element of a larger effort to restore the Chambers Bay Estuary that involves the removal of the Chambers Creek dam, estuary bank protection measures including the transport of sediment above the bridge and dam, as well as riparian and marsh restoration. As part of a larger effort to restore the estuary, the bridge must be designed to future conditions following the removal of the Chambers Creek Dam, subject to tidal influence and differing hydrogeomorphology. The project area includes a salmonid bearing stream, wetlands, floodplains, geologic hazards, and possibly cultural resources.

This project will replace the functionally obsolete Chambers Creek Bridge and other associated work. This project will provide a constructability plan for relocation and reduction of impacts to utilities connected to, running under and within the vicinity of the existing bridge. Bridge replacement design will include relocation and protection of utility infrastructure that serves University Place, the Town of Steilacoom, and the City of Lakewood. It will also include pedestrian crossings and parking to improve safety and access to the adjacent Chambers Creek Canyon trail system. The bridge alignment and roadway reconfiguration must also allow for continued turning movements for a WB-40 semi-truck to enter the Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and the BNSF access road.

The County is initiating engineering design for County Road Project (CRP) 5938, the Chambers Creek Bridge Replacement Project. To support this effort, Pierce County is seeking an engineering firm to provide Preliminary and Final Design Engineering services for the project. This is anticipated to be a federally funded project and must adhere to the WSDOT Local Agency Guidelines. In 2023, Pierce County completed a Type, Size, and Location (TS&L) study for the bridge replacement project, which can be found here: Chambers Bay Estuary Restoration | Pierce County, WA - Official Website .

The major features of the project are as follows:

• Roadway, parking lot, and bicycle/pedestrian improvements related to the new bridge,
• Demolition plan for the existing bridge,
• Structural design for the proposed bridge and walls required for the bridge abutments and roadway approaches,
• Stormwater collection and treatment facilities,
• Pedestrian crossing enhancements and roadway illumination requirements for new pedestrian crossings and parking to improve access to the adjacent Chambers Creek Canyon trail system,
• Utility design for the new bridge and temporary utility bypasses during construction, including preconstruction investigations and ongoing coordination with utility providers and jurisdictions during the design process,
• Environmental permitting and mitigation,
• Communication and engagement with tribes, interested parties, and the community,
• Determination of Right-of-Way needs and plan preparation, and
• Coordination with teams working on the other stages of the larger estuary restoration project.