Student Members: Aaron Murph, Ryane Schrank, Whitney Mattern, Jacob Kinder
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Osama Abaza, Dr. Scott Hamel
Project Mentor: Jesse Escamilla III, PE
Description:
The Cooper Creek Bridge on the Sterling Highway spans the anadromous stream, Cooper Creek. The bridge has been identified as substandard and is targeted for replacement but no scheduled date has been identified. State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is planning the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 “bypass” and does not include replacement of the Cooper Creek Bridge in that project at this time. Cooper Creek Bridge is an old, narrow span that has no accommodation for bicycle or pedestrian crossing and is therefore a safety hazard and choke point for access between trails/campgrounds/businesses and the village of Cooper Landing.
The Cooper Creek drainage is considered be an important linkage for wildlife moving north/south in this part of the Kenai River watershed. Cooper Creek remains an anadromous stream but no longer supports the king salmon population that it once did. That apparently was changed when the Cooper Lake Dam was built in the late 1950s. Chugach Electric Association built the Stetson Creek Diversion in recent years as a condition of license renewal and as part of a larger plan for habitat restoration. The Cooper Creek Bridge could become a part of that habitat restoration project if cooperation with the management groups of United States Forest Service and State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources is sought.
The purpose of this project is to design and construct an improved bridge that will contribute to an improved Level Of Service (LOS). The Project will contribute to the State of Alaska Department of Transportation’s mission to “Get Alaska moving through service and infrastructure”. This includes providing for safe and efficient movement of people and goods. In this case we will create more access for non-motorized transportation within our current system.
The Project should be incorporated into the Sterling Highway system such that the new construction should mesh with other planned or anticipated changes to the highway/arterial system including possibly the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 project. In addition, the project should improve pedestrian and bicycle traffic so that it is safer and more efficient than it is today. The current trail connectivity will also be improved by this project and may become a long-term part of the Cooper Landing Walkable Community Project (http://www.walkcooperlanding.org/).
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