Bridge ‘flies’ into place

Seven years, more than $500,000, 70,000 pounds and 145 feet of steel dangled momentarily over the Bolsa Chica Mesa on Wednesday morning, then eased down onto a pair of concrete foundations along Warner Avenue.

The long-awaited pedestrian bridge, which connects the mesa to the parking lot by the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, arrived on a damp, drizzly morning as state officials and local environmentalists braved the cold to watch the installation. Shortly after 11 a.m., with the weather having cleared, a crane slowly lifted the bridge into the air and maneuvered it into place, while four dozen onlookers snapped photos and took videos from across the water.

“It won’t be very good quality, but at least I can show everyone at the office what we did here today,” said Bonnie Turner, the project manager for the California Wildlife Conservation Board, as she prepared to capture the action on her digital camera.

Seven years ago, Turner said, the state Department of Fish and Game began planning to install a bridge that would prevent pedestrians having to walk alongside traffic on Warner to reach the mesa. Other state and local environmental groups, including the conservancy, Amigos de Bolsa Chica and Bolsa Chica Land Trust, banded together in the ensuing years to raise funds for the project.

“It’s really the culmination of years of planning and hoping,” said Laurel Telfer, a board member for the land trust. “The whole purpose of the bridge is safety and access, to let people meander over and check out the mesa side. It’s going to be great.”

After the crane lifted the bridge, it held steady a moment before the crane slowly swung it above the water. Midway through the turn, the crane’s operator honked the horn twice, and the crowd burst into applause.

Karen Miner, a land supervisor for the Department of Fish and Game, said it would probably not be until March that pedestrians could walk on the bridge, because the contractors had to sign off on it first. Among those anticipating that day was Margaret Carlberg, the co-chairwoman of the Amigos’ community education committee.

“It is pretty scary walking along the highway with 100 high school or elementary school kids trying to squeeze around to the mesa,” she said.