Albion bridge dispute enters new phase as critics file a lawsuit

Defenders of the historic Albion River Bridge are looking to a San Francisco judge to block upcoming Caltrans operations that they argue threaten the local environment and the centerpiece of their coastal village.

Drilling and geotechnical studies recently were authorized by the California Coastal Commission despite an outcry from the tiny hamlet’s residents, many who fear the work will interrupt bridge travel and inevitably lead to the replacement of the picturesque span at the river mouth.

Residents also object to the disruptive equipment, scheduled grading and removal of eucalyptus groves that will allow for placement of drilling platforms on the bluffs at either end of the bridge, in part through the use of helicopters.

A 20-page lawsuit was lodged by Peter Wells and Flurry Healy, co-owners of the Albion River Inn, and a Los Angeles investment banker, John Danhakl, who owns a large horse ranch just outside town called Whitesboro Farm. The suit, filed the day the Coastal Commission cast its support for Caltrans’ studies, challenges the commission’s jurisdiction over the issue and asserts the project violates coastal protections. It also argues the work would cause lasting damage to the scenic landscape and, thus, the local tourist economy.

Opponents distrust Caltrans’ motives, believing the agency already has decided to replace the well-known structure and will use the upcoming work to lay the groundwork.

“This is a project that will substantially and permanently disfigure this area,” one local critic, Ali Van Zee, told the commission during a Sept. 12 hearing in Fort Bragg. “And it is an area with a bridge that harmonizes and anchors what is an extraordinary and beautiful section of the Mendocino Coast.”

Commissioners, however, echoed Caltrans representatives in their subsequent approval of the plan, saying the geotechnical work is just one necessary step in deciding the fate of the World War II-era structure. It’s the last remaining wooden trestle bridge on California’s Highway 1.

They disputed the alarming impacts described by some critics and also highlighted the narrower scope of the project compared with what was initially proposed.

Several commissioners also spoke of their own hopes that Caltrans would find a way to preserve the aging bridge through rehabilitative efforts designed to strengthen it against earthquakes and stave off decay and corrosion already underway.

But the only way to know what’s possible, commissioners said, is to do the groundwork, analyzing subsurface soil and rock, measuring their stability, and determining what engineers might do to ensure there’s a way across the river in the future.

“You just can’t get some of that geotech analysis done unless you go there and do what the geotech people do,” said Coastal Commissioner Steve Padilla, who represents the San Diego Coast.

Opponents remain largely unconvinced. Some now view the state commission with some of the same disappointment and suspicion they harbor toward Caltrans, given the close coordination between the two sister agencies.

Caltrans’ critics also cite a preliminary engineering report recently obtained from two independently hired experts who concluded after visual inspections of the bridge that it is “not in need of immediate or near-term replacement” and “is in remarkably good condition.”

They’re eager to see what happens Friday, when San Francisco Superior Court is scheduled to consider the petition by the three property owners seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the geotechnical work.

Caltrans “cannot demonstrate a need, as required by the Coastal Act for a public works project, for the underlying replacement of the historic register-listed Albion River Bridge when there is evidence demonstrating that the bridge is safe, functional, and capable of indefinite use, and therefore also cannot justify the immediate Project,” the lawsuit states.

For plaintiff Peter Wells, the upcoming work feels like a direct threat to his 37-year-old bluff-top inn, restaurant and wedding site, located at the north end of the span.

“The impact of the work that they want to do is ultimately kind of horrendous for one who lives there, for one who has a business there,” Wells said.

The 73-year-old bridge, listed last year on the National Register of Historic Places, is 969 feet long and 26 feet wide, standing 150 feet above the Albion River where it enters Albion Cove.

It was completed in 1944 during wartime austerity, when materials like steel and concrete were diverted to the war effort. It was built from Douglas fir floated down the coast from Oregon and a recycled 130-foot railroad truss that once spanned the Feather River in Oroville.

Caltrans said the bridge has been inspected regularly and maintained to ensure it’s safe. However, it’s now reached a stage of accelerated decay and is approaching life expectancy.

Project manager Frank Demling said there is rot and corrosion, and dangerous chemicals like arsenic used to treat the wood during the bridge’s construction now is seeping into the water.

Next year’s work includes replacing 1,100 steel bolts and repairing cracked timbers.

The maintenance has become sufficiently complex that it’s now contracted out to a third party, with costs approaching $500,000 a year, Demling said.

A draft environmental impact report is in preparation for release next year, analyzing alternative approaches to rehabilitating or replacing the structure in the future. A cost-benefit analysis also is required as part of the decision-making process.

The geotechnical work planned this fall is aimed at helping determine where to put in road alignments and support columns, regardless of whether the bridge is rehabilitated or replaced, officials said.

The geotechnical project could begin as early as Oct. 1 and is scheduled to last eight weeks. It includes drilling nine bore holes 70 to 125 feet deep at six sites - two on the south end of the bridge and four on the north, near Wells’ hotel.

Crews will remove as many as 90 eucalyptus trees, which are nonnative, as well as some other plants, to provide access and staging for equipment. The sites will be recontoured and replanted with native species when the work is done.

Ten to 20 helicopter trips over six days will be required to deliver materials from the staging area to the drill sites, Caltrans said. The bridge will be closed to motorists for up to 20 minutes during helicopter operations, Demling said.

But Demling said Caltrans workers have been trying, even since the commission’s approval, to find ways to minimize grading and tree removal in response to public concerns.

“We’re pressing the issue because we want to be sensitive to the community,” Demling said.

Harry Searles, an energy environmental consultant who sits on the Albion Little River Fire Protection District board, was one of two members of the public who spoke in support of the geotechnical work at the recent commission meeting. He said it only seemed right to gather needed information before drawing conclusions about the bridge’s future.

“People are going to get a lot of bites at this apple,” Searles said. “It’s going to be a long time before this is built, and we need to get started looking at what the feasibility is and how we need to proceed.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249.