After years of planning, work begins next month on the the new Grand Avenue Bridge project. The first few months will be more low-key and need fewer workers, doing things like prepping areas underneath and near the ends of the bridge, as well as pouring the foundations for its pillars.
Such work could mean about thirty workers, whereas in the busiest phases, up to 150 skilled laborers may be needed. That’s expected more in the second half of 2017, when the old bridge is out of commission but the new one isn’t ready yet.
A spokesman for the project says there isn’t a specific goal for hiring a certain amount of workers from the Roaring Fork Valley area, though it’s expected area residents will fill many of the subcontractor positions. The project also includes a new bridge across the Colorado River.
