By Catherine Wilde
Staff Writer
Posted April 3, 2008

The bidding process has begun for the installation of a pedestrian bridge over Tenakill Brook and the low bidder should be awarded the project April 9.

Bids came in March 28 ranging from $78,000 to $130,000 for construction of the steel bridge that will span 50 feet and give pedestrians easier access between the Demarest and Closter trail systems. A 4-foot wide space in between the trusses will be the walkway for pedestrians on the bridge’s wooden floor.

Borough Engineer Nick DeNicola said that after the bid is awarded the contractor would submit the engineer’s drawing of the proposed bridge from the chosen manufacturer for approval from the borough.

"The borough signs off on the orders and then about 12 to 16 weeks later the bridge [will be] delivered," said DeNicola. "In that time period the contractor would be installing the screw piles that go into the ground and the concrete abutments the bridge sits on."

Those preparations for the bridge must be completed before the arrival of the bridge, DeNicola said.

DeNicola explained that the bridge’s design is standard and the same as the one in Demarest, which stands approximately 300 yards upstream from where this bridge will be.

The bridge was the subject of much discussion at past council meetings with members of the Environmental Commission strongly in favor of construction, saying it would encourage residents to use the trail system. Some residents, however, questioned the need for installing a bridge hundreds of feet from the existing Durie Avenue road bridge.

A Bergen County Open Space matching grant in the amount of $125,000 will be used to fund construction of the bridge and other work on the trails. Closter’s Open Space funds will match the county portion and Mayor Sophie Heymann expects the entire trail project to total more than $125,000 but less than $250,000.

In addition to the construction of the Tenakill Bridge, Heymann said the project includes constructing three small bridges over the tributaries to the Tenakill. Engineering and permitting costs and the work involved in clearing the trail are all part of the project’s expense, she said.

Any leftover money would be applied to continuing the trail into the Norwood border, said Heymann.

"Whatever funds are not applied to that portion of the trail will be applied to continuing northward on the same trail. It is not a matter of having to give back [the money] or spend more. The sum total of the grant and matching funds will be applied to that trail."