Mattern & Craig provided bridge design services for the construction of a new pedestrian bridge crossing Barnhardt Creek along the Roanoke River Greenway.  Our services consisted of trail design, site design, permitting, and bridge design for a 120-foot-long pre-engineered steel truss pedestrian bridge. The structure utilized cast-in-place abutments founded on micropiles.

The bridge is located at Barnhardt Creek close to where the small stream flows into the Roanoke River near Cook Drive.  This 12-foot-wide bridge enables a person who is parked at the Cook Drive parking area to walk, run or bike a four-mile loop on the greenway path.

In 2012, the Greenway Commission organized a “Bridge the Gap” campaign to secure funding for the “Gap” between Rotary Park in Salem and Bridge Street in Roanoke.  Then the City of Roanoke and the City of Salem built 1.5 miles and 0.6 miles of greenway, respectively, in this area, but they were separated by Barnhardt Creek. This new bridge provides greenway users with over two uninterrupted miles of trail and links the two municipalities.

Construction began on the 12-foot-wide bridge in January 2021.  On July 20, 2021, Roanoke Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and the City of Salem, hosted a ribbon-cutting for the new Barnhardt Creek Bridge on the Roanoke River Greenway.