TELLURIDE, Colo (KREX) - The United States Forest Service has a partnership with Trout Unlimited. They're replacing the Boomerang Bridge over the San Miguel River.
Crews have already removed the bridge. The cost of the project came up to be just under 1.5 million. Trout Unlimited is helping reconstruct the bridge and raised about $250,000 of the total project cost.
U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Megan Eno states, “The first step is putting in a permanent bridge, which is what we're doing now. We're working on the design right now with Trout Unlimited to help develop a more natural and meandering flow to the river. This bridge has served predominantly as a pedestrian bridge for many years. Still, it became a very critical piece of infrastructure in 2020 during a tailings removal project that was conducted by the environmental protection agency and the U.S. Forest Service.”
Crews will also remove a boxcar that was placed there years ago. The project also involves removing and replacing parts of the riverbank to replace some of the vegetation that was damaged from mining several years ago.
“The site contractors mobilized last week, and the project is anticipated to take somewhere between six to eight weeks and during that time the bridge itself is going to be closed,” Eno stated.